Wolf Heart
by Himewolf398
Summary: Zola and her group meet Rikaru, a shadow wielding werewolf who works for Nene. Now that he's grown closer to Zola, he must choose between his love for her or his loyalty to Nene. Zola/OC. Secrets of the Wolf Rewrite!
1. Chapter 1

Alright now everyone. The reason why I'm doing this rewrite is to help improve my writing skills and also because I feel that I could've added so much more in the original but didn't so thanks to that, this rewrite was born. Now some things in here are the same but most are different and I've added some things like more detail. With that said, I really hope you enjoy Wolf Heart.

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It was very late at night when a crash was heard inside a large bar. A very buff bald man with a brown beard was being held up against the wall by a twenty-one year old man who's hand was tigtly holding the bald man's neck. The man that held the bald man up has midnight black hair down to his shoulders, a black no sleeve t-shirt, a white sleeveless leather hoodie with the zipper open, black tribal tattoos on his muscular arms, navy blue jeans, black fingerless gloves and blue and white shoes. Even though the bald man looked much stronger than the man holding him against the wall, he couldn't free the guy's hand from his neck. The twenty-one year old had the white hood over his head so no one could see much of his face. After a few minutes, he dropped the bald man on the ground and watching him cough and gasp for air.

"I will repeat myself one last time Captain. Lord Nene knows about your betrayal and you will come with me to face your punishment." the man said and the Captain could see his golden eyes piercing straight through him like several needles.

"W-Who are you?" the Captain asked with obvious fear laced in his tone.

"Knowing who I am is the least of your concerns." the man answered. His eyes clearly showed no sympathy for the Captain and he turned around to walk towards the door, completely ignoring the scared audience that watched him. "I suggest you don't keep letting Lord Nene waste his time by waiting for you to arrive. I'm sure you know that he tends to grow very uncharitable when someone makes him wait."

"Damn it! Tell me who you are!" the Captain shouted. "I've never heard of Nene taking on a subordinate like you!"

"You lowly pathetic insect." the man said and he drew one of his dual swords from its sheath. It was a chinese broadsword with a blue and white hilt. A blue cloth strip was tied around his waist and kept both sheaths in place on each side. The one he took out was pointed directly towards the Captain. "How dare you refer to Lord Nene with such disrespect. Get moving into the vehicle outside or I'll cut off your legs and put you in there myself."

"Y-Yes sir." the Captain stood up and walked outside.

Morning...

"Well done Rikaru." Nene said. They were inside Nene's fortress and Rikaru was kneeling before him. The Captain had his arms and legs tied and he was down on both knees.

"Well done. Well done." Deathroy mimicked and Rikaru looked up at Nene.

"What do you want to do with this traitor my lord?" Rikaru asked and Nene chuckled.

"We do what we always do when we capture traitors in my army...eliminate him." the Captain looked on in horror as Rikaru slowly stood up and turned towards him. He unsheathed one of his swords and swiftly plunged it straight through the Captain's chest, killing him instantly. Rikaru withdrew his sword and turned to Nene.

"I have carried out your command as always Lord Nene." Nene smirked.

"You've shaped up to be an excellent warrior. I'm proud to have you bear the symbol of Gran Kingdom." Rikaru kneeled before him again.

"Proud. Proud." Deathroy mimicked.

"It's a great honor to be praised by you my lord. I humbly accept."

"Now now Rikaru, stand up." Nene said and Rikaru obeyed.

"Are there any more missions you wish to assign me?" Nene thought for a moment.

"Well, there are a group of shadow wielding humans who have been an annoying thorn in my side for quite a while and it seems that none of my forces have been able to get rid of them." Nene heard Rikaru growl and he laughed. "Settle down now Rikaru. I've decided to get rid of them myself since my forces have been unable to perform such a task. So, I want you to join their little group and make sure to lead them here to me. Once they reach this room, you and I will destroy them together."

"Destroy! Destroy!" Deathroy mimicked.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are the humans in this group?"

"They're mostly just a group of children but their leader in the infamous Zola." Rikaru gripped his sword tightly and Nene raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"So that woman is leading them. The woman who dares to betray you my lord and destroy your research." Nene frowned at that memory.

"Yes, that very same human woman." Rikaru sheathed his sword.

"I'll gladly accept this task my lord. I'll make sure that she pays for her crime with her life." Nene held up his hand.

"No. I'll be the one to handle Zola while you get rid of those children. I want to be the one who takes her life as payment for the damages that she caused." Rikaru sighed and nodded.

"Payment! Payment!"

"As you wish." Rikaru said, before he left the room he just thought of something. 'Great, I have to find an abandoned area to 'change'.'

"Who was that Lord Nene?" Logi asked as he walked in.

"Oh that's Rikaru. I guess you can call him my adopted son." Logi looked at Nene surprised.

"Your adopted son?" Nene smirked.

"What's the matter Logi? Do you think I'm too old to be a father?" Logi shook his head.

"No sir but what made you adopt someone?"

"He's special. I decided to personally train him secretly so that he can be our trump card." Logi looked a bit confused.

"What's so special about him that we're using him as a trump card?" Nene chuckled and rested his head in his right hand.

"My son is not only a natural born shadow wielder but he's also a werewolf." Logi was shocked and Nene chuckled again when he saw it. "Rikaru is a combination that even I didn't know existed."

Outside...

'**Just the thought of having to hang around Zola and those human children makes me sick**.' Rikaru thought as he raced across the land in his werewolf form on all fours. He was a large two-legged wolf with thick black as coal fur, one and a half inch white claws that were strong enough to pierce through steel, large and powerful fangs with five inch long canines, was a bit more muscular than a two male lions put together and he was seven feet tall. His hands and feet were a cross between a wolf and a human, the hands being more human like and the feet were more wolf like. His head was like a larger version of a wolf's except the ears and snout were longer, his ears were as long as three wolves's ears. Rikaru's tail was thick and long, almost as long as a tiger. His golden eyes found a village to his left and he raced over. He shifted to human form, changed back into his clothes and made sure that his hood was on before walking into the village. He glanced over at the shops and found someone familiar walk inside so he followed him.

"Long time no see Rikaru" the man said and Rikaru smirked.

"It hasn't been that long Sam." Rikaru said and Sam started cleaning glasses behind the counter. Rikaru took a seat on one of the bar stools directly across from Sam.

"Let me guess, the usual strawberry smoothie?" Rikaru chuckled.

"You know me too well." Sam smiled and started making the drink. Rikaru took out a picture and placed it on the counter. "Have you seen these shadow wielders?"

"Can't say that I have." Sam glanced at the photo and slid it back to Rikaru. He placed the drink by the white werewolf and started cleaning more glasses. Suddenly a loud and angry shout was heard. Rikaru turned to his right and saw five big thugs glaring at a young girl that was on the floor. He glanced at the picture and noticed that the girl matched one of the girls in the photo.

'There goes human shadow wielder number one.' Rikaru thought and he stood up. He calmly walked over to them and easily knocked two of the thugs away from the girl. He did the same with two more and grabbed the leader by his shirt collar.

"What the h-" Rikaru slammed him against the wall and everyone in the smoothie shop focused their attention on them. The girl looked at them shocked and the thug tried to get out of Rikaru's strong grasp on his shirt but failed. Rikaru glanced at the girl and she was wearing a blue and white maid outfit.

"Are you alright?" Rikaru asked and the girl nodded.

"I'm fine." Rikaru nodded and turned his attention back to the thug leader.

"Who the hell are you?" the thug leader asked and Rikaru glared at him.

"I'm the one who can easily erase your miserable existence from this world." Rikaru dropped him on the floor and unsheathed one of his swords. The thug backed closer to the wall when Rikaru's blade pointed towards his face. "A man must always protect a woman. The fact that you actually have the_ nerve_ to attack a young girl proves how pathetic and weak you are."

"Why you!" Rikaru merely tilted his head to the side and grinned sadistically, making sure the thug leader saw his razor sharp fangs.

"If you wish to prove me wrong then go ahead. However, I won't even think about going easy on you. If I catch you threatening a woman or a child again..."

"Then you'll hurt me." Rikaru chuckled and sheathed his sword. He picked the thug leader back up by his shirt collar and smirked.

"Oh I'll do more than that. Trust me, the word 'hurt' wouldn't even begin to describe what'll happen to you. You _will_ feel, slowly and surely, how sharp _both_ my swords are. Whether you die from blood loss or if I mistakenly make a fatal cut will depend entirely on how merciful I feel." Rikaru dropped him back on the floor and the thug leader shivered in terror. Rikaru walked back to his seat and started drinking his smoothie. The girl walked over and sat next to him.

"Thank you for saving me. My name's Bouquet." the girl introduced and Rikaru nodded. "So what's your name?"

"Rikaru." thw white werewolf said and another girl walked inside the smoothie shop.

"There you are Bouquet. Zola and the others are waiting for you outside the village." the girl said and Bouquet looked at her.

"Well I would've met up with you guys earlier Kluke but I..uh...ran into trouble. I'm alright though thanks to Rikaru." Bouquet gestured to the man sitting next to her. A smaller version of Rikaru's werewolf ears appeared under his hood and twitched. He looked outside and there were several loud crashes. Bouquet and Kluke rushed outside and there was a large Gran Kingdom robot walking on four legs through the village while destroying several buildings. Rikaru casually walked outside and glanced at the macine.

"Didn't their creators program them to not go barging into someone else's village without permission?" Rikaru joked.

"We'll need a shadow to destroy that thing." Kluke said and the werewolf shrugged.

"One shadow coming right up." Rikaru summoned his shadow Winter Wolf. It was a white wolf with blue fingerless gloves.

"You're a shadow wielder too?" Bouquet shouted amazed.

"This robot needs to have some manners programmed into it. Winter Wolf, if you please." Rikaru said and Winter Wolf cracked his knuckles.

"Sir yes sir." Winter Wolf said and shot straight towards the robot.

"Frozen Fist!" Winter Wolf's right fist was suddenly covered in a thick block of ice and he punched the robot. It crashed on the ground and it was frozen solid. Rikaru's werewolf ears appeared again and twitched. He could hear a small ticking sound and his eyes widened. Winter Wolf heard it too and looked down at Rikaru. "Shit, Crystal Ice Shield!"

"Sir yes sir!" Winter Wolf placed a shield around the robot. Rikaru gave the shadow more power so it could make the shield stronger and the machine exploded. Luckily Winter Wolf succeeded in making the shield stronger so it was able to contain the explosion but not without damage on the ice shield's inner walls. Winter Wolf released the shield and he disappeared.

"That would've ruined everyone's day in this village." Rikaru said and the girls walked over to him.

"That was amazing Rikaru." Kluke said and Rikaru shrugged.

"I guess but it maybe because my shadow can manipulate ice. If he couldn't then half of this village would've been blown to hell." Rikaru heard several footsteps coming and turned around to see a woman with long silver hair and a bandana with a skull on it. He gritted his fangs when he saw it. He'd recognize that bandana and silver hair combo anywhere. Right before him was the infamous Zola along with a few children following her. 'No doubt about it. Now, my mission begins.'

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There's chapter one so tell me what you think about it so far.^_^


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the great reviews everyone and thanks for just reading this in general. I've made a schedule to try to update twice a week at least since my classes have been boring which means more time to write! Now here's the information about this story and the future others. I've decided to split this story and the sequel into four parts. The first strory, which is this one, will be the Nene arc. The second story after this will be the Kai arc, the third story after that will be the Rikaru and Zola adventure arc and the last story after that one will be the Dark Visions of Fate arc. So now that all that has been covered, enjoy chapter two!

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"Are you two okay?" Zola asked and the two young girls nodded.

"Thanks to Rikaru." Kluke said and Rikaru shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "Oh Rikaru, this is Shu, Jiro, Marumaro and Zola."

"He has a shadow too." Bouquet said and Rikaru growled slightly. It sounded like she was introducing a new pet and Jiro looked at him suspiciously. "Can he come with us?"

"Bouquet, we can't just take anyone along with us. We don't even know if he's strong enough to help us beat Nene." Jiro said and Rikaru narrowed his eyes.

"What makes you think that I'm weak? I highly doubt your shadow can even land one hit on mine." Jiro glared at him and Rikaru raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Fine. We'll see who's shadow is stronger." Shu raced over to them.

"I wanna see how strong he is too." Shu said and Kluke facepalmed.

"Boys." Kluke said shaking her head in annoyance.

"Why are you two trying to pick a fight?" Bouquet asked.

"That's Jiro and Shu for ya maro." Marumaro said and Rikaru smirked.

"Very well then." Rikaru said and he summoned his shadow, Winter Wolf. Jiro summoned Minotaur and Shu summoned Blue Dragon.

"Is this okay Zola?" Kluke asked and Zola sighed.

"Shu and Jiro are both very stubborn. Plus we're not really in a hurry." Zola said and Rikaru folded his arms.

"I'll gladly take both of you on at the same time." Rikaru said and Minotaur looked at Jiro.

"So, why are we fighting this guy again?" Minotaur asked and Blue Dragon snorted.

"Who cares why. I get to fight a strong opponent." Blue Dragon said while cracking his knuckles.

"Sir, your orders?" Winter Wolf asked.

"Don't hurt their shadows too much. Think of this as part one of their 'training'." Rikaru said and Winter Wolf nodded.

"Waves of Rage!" Jiro shouted and Minotaur unleashed his attack. Winter Wolf turned his left arm into a large block of ice and blocked all of Minotaur's swift punches.

"Ice huh, then we'll do this Blue Dragon. Fire Crisis!" Blue Dragon shot his attack at Winter Wolf. The wolf shadow's right arm turned into the same block of ice as his left and he blocked the stream of blue flames. When both Minotaur and Blue Dragon stopped their attacks they saw the left ice block had small cracks on it while the right ice block had a bit of a melted look. Rikaru gave Winter Wolf a bit more power and both ice blocks regenerated.

"I thought at least Blue Dragon's Fire Crisis attack would've been strong enough to completely destroy that block of ice maro." Marumaro said.

"Since elemental rules still apply then it should've but his shadow's ability to command ice must be resilient enough to withstand it." Zola said. "Rikaru's shadow is indeed strong."

"Not bad you two. Your shadows were strong enough to damage Winter Wolf's ice which is very uncommon. Now, I shall display Winter Wolf's attack power." Rikaru said and Winter Wolf's arms returned to normal.

"We're not done yet! Crushing Nail!" Blue Dragon's hands turned into long glowing light blue blades. Winter Wolf lunged forward with great speed and grabbed Blue Dragon's wrists.

"Oh no you don't." Jiro said and Minotaur raced towards Winter Wolf.

"I'll reverse that saying right back at you. Arctic Breath!" Rikaru said and thick icy steam started pouring out of Winter Wolf's mouth, even though it was closed. He turned his head towards Minotaur and opened his mouth. A large blast of snow and frost shot towards Minotaur and hit him. When the fog cleared, Minotaur was frozen solid and everyone looked at the frozen shadow shocked.

"You're next Blue Dragon." Winter Wolf said and he opened his mouth to shoot the same attack at him. Before the attack finished charging, Killer Bat appeared and placed his sword between the other two shadows.

"That's enough." Zola said and Winter Wolf glanced at her.

"Alright Winter Wolf, we're done here so unfreeze Minotaur." Rikaru said and Winter Wolf nodded. He let go of Blue Dragon's wrists and moved over to the frozen Minotaur. He placed is paw on his head and the ice melted away.

"We're not doing that again." Minotaur said and all four shadows disappeared.

"So can Rikaru join us now?" Bouquet asked and everyone looked at Zola.

"It's fine with me if Rikaru's okay with it." Zola said and Rikaru shrugged.

"I'm not on any missions right now so I'm okay with it." Shu walked over to Rikaru.

"That was awesome! Can you train with us?" Shu asked with an excited look in his eyes. Rikaru stared at him for a moment before sighing.

"Sure Shu, whatever you want." Rikaru said and Shu pumped his fist in the air in happiness. The werewolf took a deep breath to calm himself when he saw Zola walk over to him.

"Good to have you on the team." Zola said and they shook hands. Rikaru frowned when he felt a very slight tingling sensation shoot up his arm and spread throughout his body. It felt like a very small jolt of electricity and Rikaru pulled his hand away. Zola noticed that his hands have sharp claws and she watched him put his hands in his leather hoodie pockets.

"Where are you guys headed?"

"We're going to the Flame Phoenix ruins and Homeron is looking for the Extra Seven for us." Shu said.

"Yeah Homeron would be the best choice to find something like the Extra Seven." Rikaru said.

"You know Homeron?" Kluke asked and Rikaru shook his head.

"I've never met the guy but a friend of mine knows him. He owns a large flying ship that's also a store and Homeron goes to him for the latest gadgets."

"So where's this friend of yours maro?" Rikaru shrugged.

"Who knows. He doesn't stay in one place for long so I have no idea where he is."

"Well, let's move out everyone." Zola said and they all started walking.

Meanwhile...

"Lord Nene, we've received word about Rikaru and his mission." a soldier said.

"Has he joined up with Zola's group?" Nene asked and the soldier nodded.

"Yes sir. They're currently headed to the Phoenix ruins." Nene smirked.

"I wonder what they're trying to do."

"Wonder! Wonder!" Deathroy mimicked.

"Sir, are you not concerned with what they're trying to do?" the soldier asked and Nene shook his head.

"Not really. Rikaru will send word on what they're up to so nothing they do will be a surprise to me."

Back with the others...

"Here we are." Zola said as they approached the Phoenix ruins.

"Wow." Bouquet said and they started to walk inside, except Rikaru.

"Aren't you coming?" Kluke asked and Rikaru shook his head.

"I'll stand guard out here." Rikaru said and the others looked at him.

"Why? Are you afraid of the dark?" Shu asked grinning and Rikaru snorted.

"Please, the darkness isn't something to be afraid of." Rikaru looked away. "Let's just say that I have my reason."

"Okay maro." Marumaro said shrugging and the others walked inside.

'A werewolf in my situation has no right to enter a sacred place like those ruins.' Rikaru thought as he gazed up at the clouds. His werewolf ears appeared under his hood and twitched. He looked over to where the sound was coming from and he narrowed his eyes.

Inside the ruins...

"Hey Zola, does Rikaru seem to act a bit odd to you?" Kluke asked and Zola looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Zola asked.

"Well, I just get the feeling that he's hiding something from us." Zola nodded.

"That's because he is." Kluke looked up at Zola surprised.

"He is?" Zola folded her arms.

"I suspect that he's hiding his true race."

"So that means..."

"Yes, Rikaru's hiding the fact that he's not human." Kluke looked at Zola shocked.

"How did you figure that out?"

"When I shook his hand earlier today, I noticed that he has claws." Zola said. "Now what human do you know have claws?"

"So if he's not human then...what is he?"

"I'm not sure but I do plan on finding out." Zola unfolded her arms. "For now let's just take a look around."

"Alright." Kluke said and she started walking around.

Outside...

"Hurry and get inside!" Rikaru shouted and the Jibral soldiers ran towards the ice shelter that Winter Wolf made.

"Sir, there are a lot of them." Winter Wolf said and Rikaru smirked.

"Really Winter Wolf? After all the training we went through with Lord Nene, you're seriously going to complain about their numbers?" Rikaru asked and Winter Wolf remained silent. "No matter how many there are, they're still weak. Compared to the battles we've been through together, these guys don't even come within an inch of being a threat."

"You're right." Winter Wolf cracked his knuckles. Then Shu and the others hurried over.

"What's going on Rikaru?" Shu asked.

"Oh nothing much. Just some Gran Kingdom soldiers and their fake shadows harrassing some leftover Jibral soldiers." Rikaru said shrugging.

"You make it sound like they're not a threat." Zola said amused.

"They were a small bit when it was just Winter Wolf and I but now that you guys have shown up, their threat level instantly just flew out the window." Kluke giggled and Rikaru looked at her. He noticed that she was wearing a new necklace with a crystal in the shape of a feather. "I'm guessing those ruins were for you Kluke?"

"Yep." Kluke said fingering her necklace.

"Now let's help these soldiers." Shu said as he, Zola, Jiro and Marumaro summoned their shadows. The Jibral soldiers looked on in awe as the shadow wielders took down the Gran Kingdom soldiers. Then a giant robot started heading towards them with large arm cannons.

"Wow, something that may be an actual challenge." Rikaru said and Kluke held out her hand in front of him.

"I'll take care of this." Kluke said. Rikaru saw the determined look in her eyes and sighed.

"Fine with me." Kluke stood in front of the ice cave where the Jibral soldiers were and she summoned her shadow, Phoenix. The twin beams that the robot shot out suddenly hit a large barrier that Phoenix put up.

"Now Shu!" Kluke shouted.

"Fire Crisis!" Blue Dragon shot his attack and it destroyed the giant robot.

"You know what? I take that comment back." Rikaru said and Shu, Bouquet and Marumaro laughed. The ice cave melted away and they waved the Jibral soldiers off.

"I'm glad they're all safe." Bouquet said.

"Yeah." Rikaru said and Zola looked at him. She narrowed her eyes as he continued talking to Bouquet, Kluke and Shu.

'What exactly are you?'

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Well there's chapter two everyone so now I'm off to play City of Heroes. Read and Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Tra la laaaaaa! Welcome to chapter three everyone! I'm really glad that this rewrite turned out better than the original. I still haven't decided how long the other stories will be so I've decided to just wing it and see as I go along. There is also something that I would like to clear up. Rikaru may seem like a Gary Stu in this story but you have to understand that he was trained by Nene himself so of course he's very strong shadow-wise. He'll start to become less like one in the end of this story and isn't one anymore in the other ones to come so please bear with it. With that said, enjoy this shiny new chapter!

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"So where are you from Rikaru?" Kluke asked. They were walking through a village on their way to the next set of ruins.

"I'm from a village far from here. It resides in the middle of the desert." Rikaru said.

"Which desert? There are quite a few of them around the world." Jiro said.

"Well..." Rikaru trailed off and everyone stopped walking to look at him. "My village resides in the SandSkull Desert."

"Are you serious?" Kluke asked shocked and Rikaru nodded.

"Wait what's SandSkull Desert maro?" Marumaro asked.

"It's the largest desert in the world. Several strong sandstorms blow there very frequently and the rumor is that those sandstorms are so strong that they'll tear your flesh off your bones if you're unfortunate enough to get stuck in one." Zola said and Bouquet and Marumaro looked scared.

"Well that's just a rumor...right Rikaru?" Bouquet asked and Rikaru shook his head.

"I'm afraid not Bouquet. It isn't called SandSkull Desert for nothing." Rikaru said.

"There are also a couple Marauder villages there too." A voice said. Everyone turned around to see Homeron take off his disguise.

"Whoa hey Homeron." Shu said.

"So this is the legendary Homeron." Rikaru said and Homeron looked at him.

"I don't think I've seen you with Shu and the others before. Who are you?" Homeron asked.

"Homeron this is Rikaru and he's our new recruit." Bouquet said and Rikaru growled slightly.

"Nice to meet you Rikaru." Homeron said. "So you're from Desert-Moon Village then?"

"How did you know?" Rikaru asked. "I could be from a Marauder Village."

"Desert-Moon Village is the only peaceful and thriving village there. Plus, Marauders don't own anything similar to the outfit you're wearing." Homeron said and Rikaru nodded.

"Anyway, what are you doing here Homeron?" Zola asked and Homeron gestured to follow him.

Outside the village...

"That's Castle Des La Teste and it's one of Gran Kingdom's fortresses. There's a powerful computer in there that represents the very heart of their information network." Homeron said. "As you can see, it's heavily guarded and the only way to find the Extra Seven is to slip in and hack their master computer."

'So that's what you're up to Homeron.' Rikaru thought. Without anyone noticing, he reached for his signal beacon and turned it on.

With Nene...

"So that's where they are now." Nene said and Logi glanced at the red glowing dot on the map. "Well done Rikaru."

"Isn't that where Castle Des La Teste is?" Logi asked and Nene nodded.

"Which means..." Nene trailed off and Logi nodded.

"They plan to get access to the master computer there." Logi said.

"Which I imagine that they don't know how to hack into to gain the information they need." Logi looked at Nene. "I doubt Rikaru's sister is with them so it must be Homeron."

"I'll send someone after him." Logi said and he walked away.

With the others...

"So basically what you're saying is that you hit a dead end." Zola said and Rikaru snorted.

"Yeah that's basically it." Homeron said. "By the way, Gran Kingdom has recently captured Konrad."

"What!" Shu shouted and Rikaru winced from how loud Shu was. Zola noticed it and kept her eyes on him.

"He's being kept in a detention facility right by the fortress I showed you."

"Then we'll head there." Zola said and Shu smiled.

"To rescue Konrad right?" Shu asked.

"That too but I was also thinking of something else." Zola said.

"Clever." Rikaru said when he figured it out.

"So what is it?" Kluke asked.

"We'll launch an all out assault on the detention facility to rescue Konrad and the guards there should call for backup." Zola said.

"Which will then draw the guards away from Castle Des La Teste so Homeron can slip in." Jiro said and Zola nodded.

Later...

"Intruders!" a soldier shouted as Blue Dragon shot a blast of fire at a couple of their shadows.

"Make this assault as big as you can." Zola said and Rikaru smirked.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Rikaru said and he looked up at Winter Wolf. "You heard the lady Winter Wolf."

"Sir yes sir." Winter Wolf said and he shot out large ice shards from his claws everywhere. Some randomly hit a couple enemy shadows while others hit the ground and the detention facility.

"I don't think she meant making this place become a new set of ruins." Jiro said and Rikaru shrugged.

"She said make it as big as you can. So I took that as a challenge." Rikaru said and Shu laughed.

In the facility...

"Status report." a woman said and the soldier nodded.

"Our losses are growing and we've already lost nearly half of our robots Lady Cynthia." the soldier said and Cynthia sighed in irritation.

"I expected as much from the Type One robots but the Type Twos?"

"It's not only that." Cynthia looked at him. "There's a shadow wielder among them who almost devastated this place using ice crystals."

"What!"

Outside...

"The gates are open. I'm going in to save Konrad!" Shu shouted and he ran for the entrance.

"Wait Shu, we can rescue Konrad later when we finish." Jiro said and Shu turned to Zola.

"I'm going to save Konrad Zola." Shu said and Zola sighed.

"Go ahead then Shu, but Jiro and Rikaru are going with you." Zola said and Jiro looked at her.

"What?" Rikaru sighed in annoyance and stood next to Shu. Even though it was part of his mission, he still hated the fact that a human was ordering him around.

"Might as well. Think of this as a two for one bonus." Rikaru said and he followed Shu inside. Jiro sighed and ran after them. Their shadows disappeared once they entered and they came across a row of Jibral prisoners in their cells.

"How are we going to get them out?" Shu said and Rikaru cracked his knuckles.

"Allow me." Rikaru said and he gripped two of the iron bars on one cell. With his inhuman strength, he pulled the bars apart and created a large hole for the Jibral soldiers to escape through. One by one, he went to each cell and repeated the same action. Jiro narrowed his eyes as he stood by and watched him.

'This guy can't be human if he was able to easily bend those cell bars.' Jiro thought as Shu cheered him on. Jiro sighed when he saw that Shu was completely ignoring that obvious and important fact. They continued walking after Rikaru freed all the soldiers and the werewolf kicked open the doors to a seperate room. Shu saw Konrad chained on a chair and ran over to him. Jiro saw the doors were partly hanging off the doorhinge and watched Rikaru walk over to Konrad.

"Rikaru, can you get him out?" Shu asked and Rikaru was silent for a moment. He saw that the chains were made of silver and he cursed under his breath. "Rikaru?"

"Yeah I'll find a way." Rikaru said and he took a deep breath. 'This is gonna hurt.'

"Hurry before more soldiers come." Jiro said and Rikaru grabbed the chains. A sizzling sound was heard and Rikaru gritted his teeth in pain as he broke the chains apart. He jumped back and put his hands on the cold floor to cool them off. Jiro saw him do this and noticed that Rikaru had sharp claws. He looked back to see Shu trying to lift Konrad out of the chair and he facepalmed. Why Shu was ignoring the fact that Rikaru just demonstrated super human strength and getting his clawed hands burned by those chains he'll never know. Konrad weakly opened his eyes and looked Shu.

"What are you doing here?" Konrad asked.

"To bust you out of here of course." Shu said as he and Rikaru helped him up. They walked outside the prison rooms and made their way to the gate.

"Awww, you're leaving already?" a voice said and the boys turned around to see a woman standing on the roof.

"You again." Jiro said.

"Well hello again to you too boy." Cynthia said after she jumped down and noticed Rikaru looking at her. "I've never seen you before. Tell me, who are you?"

"Introductions first? Alright." Rikaru said and he gently leaned Konrad against the wall. "My name is Rikaru and I'm a new member of their team."

"How rude." Cynthia said frowning. "You introduce yourself yet most of your face is covered up underneath that hood of yours. At least show your face first."

"Well since you asked..." Rikaru trailed off and put down his hood. Cynthia immediately blushed when she gazed upon his handsome features.

"So that's what you look like." Shu said when he and Jiro looked at him. His bright golden eyes looked like smooth gold satin and no one would be surprised if someone got lost in them.

"Wow." Cynthia said dreamily and the boys sweatdropped.

"Now look what you've done Rikaru." Jiro said and Rikaru shrugged. "You made her have a crush on you."

"It happens." Rikaru said.

"How do you know this old lady Jiro?" Shu asked and Cynthia glared at Shu.

"I'm not an old lady! How dare you!" Cynthia shouted.

"She's a member of Logi's elite flying squadron." Jiro said.

'If she doesn't recognize me then Logi must not have told his squadron about me.' Rikaru thought and he smirked. 'Oh this will be fun.'

"Temper temper Cynthia, at least try to keep your ladylike composure." a voice said and the boys saw a man appear next to Cynthia.

"Who's this guy?" Jiro asked.

"He's another one of Logi's goons." Shu said.

"Goons huh." Rikaru said. "I personally prefer the terms mooks or minions but goons is fine with me."

"Who's he?" the man asked.

"That, Lemaire, is Rikaru." Cynthia said his name in a dreamy like state and Rikaru sweatdropped.

"Yeah Jiro now you see why I don't take off my hood around women very often." Rikaru said and Jiro nodded.

"Great now there are two of them." Jiro said sarcastically.

"Yeah that's all shoots and ladders for them but there are three of us." Rikaru said. "Unless one of you want to escort Konrad out of here."

"No we're staying here." Shu said.

"So you three are apprentices of the illustrious Zola." Lemaire said and Rikaru snorted.

"I'm not her apprentice." Rikaru said. "I joined simply because my king didn't have anymore missions to assign me so I was bored."

"Jiro and I are her apprentices." Shu said and Lemaire smirked.

"Facing Zola in battle is a goal of mine but defeating you will do for now." Lemaire said and he summoned his shadow.

"Oh yeah?" Shu said and he summoned Blue Dragon.

"Shu, we need to retreat." Jiro said and Shu looked at him.

"There's no way I'm retreating." Shu said and Lemaire chuckled.

"You wouldn't be able to reach her even if you did retreat. My military forces have her surrounded and even she will fall." Lemaire said and Rikaru raised an eyebrow.

"You really need to learn to stop underestimating people." Rikaru said and he summoned Winter Wolf.

"It's not really underestimating if it's true." Cynthia said and she summoned her shadow.

"Fine." Jiro said and he summoned Minotaur. A flail from Lemaire's shadow's shield wrapped around Cynthia's shadow and Lemaire's shadow threw Cynthia's towards Blue Dragon. Cynthia's shadow punched Blue Dragon and it knocked him against the wall.

"Shu no!" Jiro shouted and Cynthia looked at him.

"You're next brat." Cynthia said and her shadow punched Minotaur into the same wall.

"Are you two okay?" Rikaru asked looking at Jiro and Shu and Cynthia looked at him.

"I'm sorry but it's your turn Rikaru." Cynthia said and Rikaru looked back at her.

"Please." Rikaru said smirking and Winter Wolf dodged her shadow's punch. Lemaire's shadow kept swinging Cynthia's shadow at him but the wolf shadow kept dodging every punch that came his way. Then a chain wrapped around Winter Wolf's right wrist.

"That should stop your shadow from moving around so much." Lemaire said and Rikaru chuckled. Lemaire frowned when he saw this. "What's so funny?"

"The fact that you thought anything could keep hold of my shadow. Arctic Breath!" Winter Wolf shot his attack through his nose instead of his mouth at the chain holding him and it was frozen. Winter Wolf used his right arm to break the chain and moved next to Minotaur and Blue Dragon.

"That was awesome Rikaru." Shu said and Rikaru turned to him.

"Listen you two. We need to work together and come up with a plan." Rikaru looked at Jiro. "That's your cue."

"Wait what?" Jiro asked and Rikaru smiled.

"You are Zola's second in command right? Then lead us Jiro." Rikaru said and Jiro nodded.

"Alright."

"Are you three done yet?" Cynthia asked and another chain wrapped around her shadow.

"We won't charge in this time. We'll switch to backup and let them come to us." Jiro said.

"Right." Shu said. Lemaire's shadow swung Cynthia's shadow at Minotaur and Blue Dragon punched it away.

"What!" Cynthia shouted and Lemaire frowned. Minotaur grabbed Cynthia's shadow and threw it at Lemaire's shadow, knocking it back.

"I told you not to underestimate people." Rikaru said shrugging and Lemaire glared at him.

"No more playing around then. It's time to end this." Lemaire said and Rikaru pulled his hood back over his head.

"I agree." a voice said and Lemaire turned around to see Zola pointing her sword at him.

"But how did you..." Cynthia trailed off and Zola smirked.

"Those robots were just annoying instead of a threat." Zola said.

"It's not over yet." Cynthia said. "Our reinforcements from Castle Des La Teste are on their way."

"Then it's time we exited the stage." Rikaru said and Zola nodded.

"Exactly. Hornet Assassin!" Killer Bat appeared and shot his attack towards the ground. When the smoke cleared, Lemaire and Cynthia were alone.

"Damn them." Lemaire said.

Away from the facility...

"I owe you Shu. Thanks for your help." Konrad said and Shu grinned.

"It was no big deal. Besides, you should thank Jiro and Rikaru for their help." Shu said and a soldier remembered something.

"That reminds me. How were you able to bend the steel bars like that?" a soldier asked and everyone looked at Rikaru.

"Which also reminds me." Jiro said. "The doors to Konrad's cell were partially hanging off the doorhinge when you kicked them open. Also, when you broke Konrad's chains, your hands made a sizzling sound which means they were burned."

"Is that so." Zola said and she redrew her sword. Then Kluke and Bouquet ran over to them.

"Homeron successfully infiltrated Castle Des La Teste." Kluke said and stopped when she saw Zola point her sword at Rikaru.

"What's going on Zola?" Bouquet asked but Zola ignored her.

"It's about time you told us the truth Rikaru." Zola said and Rikaru stared at her without moving an inch. "What the hell are you?"

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Daaaaaaaamn people! Read and Review!


	4. Chapter 4

Welcome to chapter four everyone! Here's an important notice that you should read. I went back to chapter one and changed Rikaru's werewolf form so skim through that chapter and read that before you read this one. Also, I'm a bit conflicted on if I should change Zola into a werewolf or keep her human in the second story but feel free to give your opinion on that. Now enjoy!

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"I'll ask again Rikaru. What are you?" Zola asked while her sword was still pointed towards the werewolf. Rikaru just stood there with his hands in his pockets and stared at her silver blade.

"Answer the question." Konrad said glaring at the werewolf. Rikaru glanced at him and sighed.

"Alright." Rikaru said and he turned to Zola. "Do you believe in supernatural creatures?"

"Nene is a supernatural creature so yes I believe they exist." Zola said and Rikaru nodded.

"True. There are many more kinds that exist and I belong to the species that are known for their 'monstrous' strength and 'savagery' by humans. I'm a being called a werewolf." The group gasped and the Jibral soldiers hid behind Konrad. Zola sheathed her sword and Rikaru sighed in relief.

"So are the stories that I've heard about werewolves true?" Bouquet asked while hiding behind Zola.

"That depends on what stories you were told." Rikaru said shrugging. "I will tell you what's true though. Werewolves are weak against silver and vampires are our natural enemies. We've been enemies for thousands of years and it's still going on today."

"Well Zola's hair is silver. Can you touch that?" Kluke asked and both Rikaru and Zola slightly blushed at that question.

"I don't know Kluke and unless Zola gives her permission, I'm not gonna find out." Rikaru said and Kluke giggled. "I'm pretty sure Zola's sword is made out of silver and I don't want to test if that's true."

"Anything else?" Jiro asked.

"Well, most of the time we're not hostile and savage unless you really piss us off or threaten our loved ones. Even worse when you threaten our offspring."

"So those stories are false." Kluke said and Rikaru nodded.

"Mostly."

"What does your werewolf form look like?" Shu asked and Rikaru looked at him surprised. Instead of being afraid of him, Shu looked at him with an excited grin. He was eager to learn more about werewolves and Konrad smiled. He returned a soldier's sword to him and Rikaru looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I'd be glad to but I would have to strip all my clothes off." Everyone had a 'WTF' look on their faces and Rikaru sighed. "I like this outfit and I don't want it to rip and tear off when I transform."

"Oh." Shu said a bit disappointed and Rikaru thought for a moment.

"However, since my leather hoodie is sleeveless, I can transform one of my arms if you want Shu." Rikaru said and Shu brightened up instantly.

"Really?" Rikaru nodded with a small smile and moved until everyone was in front of him.

"I must give you a warning though. This may be creepy and gross to all of you." Rikaru said and he held out his right arm. He furrowed his eyebrows and gritted his fangs a little as his right arm started transforming. It was mildly spasming with veins bulging as it grew bigger and longer. His fingers grew longer and his claws became more animal like. Black fur started growing at a fast rate and his muscle mass grew. His elongated arm finished transforming and his fingers stopped at his knees. Everyone looked at his right arm in shock and Shu ran over.

"That's so cool!" Shu shouted amazed. He touched it with both hands and ran his fingers through the werewolf's soft fur. Kluke was the next one to walk over to them and she ran one of her hands over Rikaru's enlarged bicep. Marumaro and Bouquet were next and looked at his arm in fascination as Rikaru let their hands roam over his werewolf arm.

"Wow." Bouquet said as she rubbed his fur.

"Maro." Marumaro said in awe as he touched the soft and cushy paw pads in Rikaru's large hand. Jiro walked over and stared at the arm. Rikaru looked over at him and held his hand out. He ruffled Jiro's hair and the young boy could feel how incredible his strength was even though Rikaru was being very gentle. Konrad folded his arms and Zola walked over to him.

"I'm surprised they're not scared." Konrad said.

"Well they know that Rikaru won't hurt them so there's no reason to be scared." Zola said and Rikaru felt a bit awkward with the young shadow wielders exploring his arm but made no move to stop them.

"How strong are you maro?" Marumaro asked.

"Well, I'm strong enough to lift a type one robot from Gran Kingdom with one hand." Rikaru said and they left his arm alone. "There's more."

"More?" Kluke asked confused and Rikaru nodded.

"If you can't stand the sight of blood then I suggest you look away." Rikaru said and he pulled out one of his swords.

"What are you-" Konrad's statement was cut off when Rikaru started cutting a long and deep gash into his transformed arm. The others looked on in horror as he gritted his fangs and growled while cutting himself. When he finished, they saw that Rikaru's fangs were larger than normal and his eyes turned into wolf ones. His scleras were darker than his fur, his pupils disappeared and his golden eyes were glowing.

"Now look at my arm." Rikaru said in a rough voice and they saw that the wound started healing at a fast rate. Rikaru sheathed his sword and after two minutes, the wound was fully healed and the fur grew back where the gash once was.

"Whoa." Jiro said amazed and Rikaru's arm detransformed back into a human one. His eyes returned to normal and his fangs returned to their usual size.

"That's definitely something that we can use to our advantage against Nene." Zola said.

"My wound was able to heal that fast because I had enough stamina to use. If I receive too many wounds and I don't have enough stamina to heal them all then I have to resort to feeding." Rikaru said. "Once I've fed then my wounds will regenerate almost instantly."

"I'm afraid to know what you 'feed' on." Bouquet said.

"Does that include...people?" Shu asked and Rikaru remained silent. His silence was the answer to that question and everyone except Zola backed away from him.

"Sorry but it was either that or bleed to death." Rikaru said and Zola turned to Konrad.

"So what will you do now that Jibral's gone?" Zola asked and Konrad clenched his fists.

"I'll head west, gather some more warriors and we'll strike at Nene." Konrad said and Jiro turned to Zola.

"So what's our next step?" Jiro asked.

"We'll stay here and guard Konrad until he's ready to leave. Then we'll head to the next ruin." Zola said.

"I wish we could go with them." Marumaro said.

"What about Homeron?" Bouquet asked.

"I'm positive that Homeron will be fine." Rikaru said and Zola nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile...

"Hey Captain Gilliam, why do you have us working so hard?" a soldier asked.

"Yeah Todd's right. Why are we doing surveillance when it's hot as hell out here?" another soldier asked. "Shouldn't the robots handle this?"

"Quit complaining Bishop, you too Todd." Gilliam said as all three of them were riding on their flying bird shadows. "I'm pretty sure you know that we can't rely or trust those machines. I'm know you two have heard about the prison that was attacked a few hours ago."

"Yeah what about it?" Bishop asked.

"The ones responsible for the prison attack are shadow wielders. Cynthia and Lemaire failed to stop them so it's up to us to find them and take them down ourselves." Gilliam said.

"Yeah that's all fine and good but I'd rather not waste my time looking for them all day." Todd said and Gilliam smirked.

"You won't have to. I know where they are." Todd and Bishop looked at Gilliam confused. "The group is on the run with exhausted prisoners so they won't be able to get very far so fast. There's only one place near the prison where they can hide like the rats they are."

"Point N345." Bishop said smirking. "Otherwise known as the forest."

"Exactly. I also sent Andropov to attack from the opposite side so we can catch them in a trap."

With the others...

"There they are." Marumaro said.

"Just like Zola said." Shu said.

"Let's see, there are three of them coming in fast." Kluke said using her binoculars.

"Let's get them maro!" Marumaro shouted and the three of them summoned their shadows.

"Okay so we just need to stop them right here." Kluke said until Gilliam, Todd and Bishop flew past them.

"Oh I'm sorry but we're taking down the prisoners first." Gilliam said and his shadow shot its feathers at them. Bouquet summoned her shadow and they transformed into a large pink brick shelter.

"Hurry and get in." Bouquet said and the soldiers rushed inside.

"We need to stop him." Marumaro said.

"I'll gladly take him on in a fair fight." Saber Tiger said and Gilliam chuckled.

"Fighting fairly isn't really my style. I'd rather be ruthless!" Gilliam shouted and his shadow shot more feathers at Marumaro.

"This has certainly turned into one big mess." Rikaru said with his hands casually in the pockets of his leather hoodie.

"Conquer!" Jiro shouted and Minotaur shot a bolt of lightning from his horns at Todd and Bishop's shadows but they dodged.

"Ray Stinger!" Killer Bat shot twin gold beams at Todd and Bishop's shadows but they dodged again. Zola looked at Rikaru. "Feel free to help anytime."

"I don't have that much experience against shadows that can fly but I can slow them down." Rikaru said shrugging.

"That would be very much appreciated here." Minotaur said and Rikaru summoned his shadow.

"These shadows are swiftly and annoyingly buzzing around like hummingbirds on a sugar rush. Can you kindly calm them down for Zola and Jiro Winter Wolf?" Rikaru asked and Winter Wolf chuckled. "Arctic Wind!"

"With pleasure." Winter Wolf said and he blew out a strong blast of cold air that started to spread out. Todd and Bishop's shadows were caught in it and they started shivering. Their speed was cut in half and Rikaru smirked.

"Man that looks chilly." Rikaru joked and Zola shook her head. It was amusing to hear the werewolf joke like this during battle.

"Nice one. Conquer!" Jiro shouted and Minotaur shot another bolt of lightning at Bishop's shadow. Due to his shadows speed being reduced, the lightning bolt hit his shadow and they fell to the ground.

"Bishop no!" Todd shouted and Zola tossed Konrad her sword. He caught it by its sheath and looked at Zola confused.

"Use it well. I can tell you wanted to join in." Zola said and Konrad smiled. Blue Dragon shot a stream of fire at Todd and but his shadow managed to get out the way in time. Rikaru looked up to see Gilliam's shadow fall and smirked. Winter Wolf stopped blowing the icy wind and disappeared.

"Captain Gilliam's down too?" Todd said shocked and Konrad appeared behind him.

"You're next." Konrad said and he slashed Todd's shadow.

"We need you Andropov." Gilliam said.

"Sorry but your damage meter is in the yellow zone. You must withdraw now or you'll be defeated." Andropov said over the communicator and Gilliam gritted his teeth. He resummoned his shadow and flew away with Todd and Bishop following. Everyone's shadows disappeared and Konrad returned Zola's sword to her.

"Yeah that's right! Keep running!" Shu shouted and the Jibral soldiers cheered.

"You say you don't have much experience with fighting shadows that can fly yet you managed to turn to tide into our favor." Zola said and Rikaru shrugged.

"Yeah well..." Rikaru trailed off and Zola sighed.

"Nice work." Zola said smiling and Rikaru lightly blushed. She looked so beautiful when she smiled and Rikaru felt his heart skip a beat.

"Y-Yeah no problem." Rikaru said and he growled slightly at letting his enemy's beauty get to him.

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This chapter is done! Score! Read and Review!


	5. Chapter 5

Hellooooooo everyone! I'm so happy that I've been given such positive reviews. Anyway I've decided what Zola shall be in the second story arc so look forward to that after this one is finished. Also, for some strange reason, I feel a strong urge to go back to previous chapters and make Rikaru blond with short hair. I don't know why though and it's seriously bothering me. I'll let you read chapter five while I think on it for a bit. *sits down and randomly sips some tea.*

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"Can we train now Rikaru?" Shu asked and Rikaru looked at him. They were stopping to spend the night at a village and everyone was currently in separate rooms. The boys were in one room while the girls were in another. Rikaru was reading a book when Shu walked over to him and asked the question.

"Me too maro." Marumaro said and Rikaru chuckled.

"I don't mind but it'll have to be one-on-one so we can work on your strengths and weaknesses." Rikaru said closing his book. "Shu will go first, then Marumaro, and then Jiro."

"Yeah I'm first!" Shu shouted.

"Why am I last?" Jiro asked and Rikaru grinned.

"Because I can tell you don't need that much help." Jiro smirked and Shu looked shocked. Rikaru stood up and walked to the door. "Let's go Shu."

"Coming." Shu said and he followed Rikaru outside. Once they were outside and away from the villagers and buildings, they summoned their shadows.

"Alright Shu, from the fights that I've witnessed Blue Dragon participate in, he has high strength and a bit above moderate stamina but he needs to work on his speed and dexterity."

"Right." Shu said.

"What Blue Dragon should do is use his wings to his advantage." Blue Dragon looked at Rikaru.

"You mean for dodging and landing attacks right?" Blue Dragon said and Rikaru nodded.

"Correct. You can use your wings to help you maneuver out the way of an enemy's attacks and position them to raise your speed." Blue Dragon nodded and Rikaru noticed that his wings were open a little. "The way your wings are positioned right now will only slow you down when you try to attack an enemy so try to close them a bit more."

"Okay." Blue Dragon closed his wings a little more.

"Now, come at my shadow with an attack." Rikaru said and Winter Wolf braced himself.

"Here goes! Crushing Nail!" Shu shouted and Blue Dragon's hands turned into glowing blue blades. He rushed at Winter Wolf and Blue Dragon was now moving a bit faster than before. Winter Wolf managed to dodge the attack and Rikaru nodded in approval. "Whoa!"

"If Blue Dragon's wings were open like they usually were then the air would've slowed him down and give his enemy a chance to try and counterattack."

"That was great." Blue Dragon said. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

"Your wings are much more useful than you realize. You can also use them to boost your speed when you're dodging attacks. Winter Wolf will attack you now so I want you to open your wings and use them to help you dodge." Blue Dragon nodded and opened his wings. "Frozen Fist!"

"Sir yes sir." Winter Wolf said and his right fist was now covered in a block of ice. He reduced his speed before racing towards Blue Dragon.

"Concentrate Blue Dragon and try to time it just right." Rikaru said and Blue Dragon narrowed his eyes. He suddenly spread his wings out and flew out the way of Winter Wolf's attack. "Excellent work."

"Nice one Blue Dragon." Shu said and Blue Dragon smirked.

"You can also use your wings to help you counterattack." Rikaru said and Blue Dragon looked at him.

"How do I do that?" Blue Dragon asked.

"Every attack leaves some type of opening. All you have to do is quickly find it and exploit it." Winter Wolf returned to Rikaru's side. "This also has to do with your sense of timing Shu. Once you've found an opening, Blue Dragon should use his wings to boost his speed and attack. Whether you want to use a special or physical attack is up to you."

"Right." Shu said and Blue Dragon nodded.

"Sometimes the weak spot is the time it takes to charge the attack or the recharge time." Shu looked a bit confused and Rikaru cleared his throat. "I'll give you an example, Winter Wolf's Arctic Breath attack takes a minute and a half to charge. He also has an attack that's very powerful but we only use it as a last resort."

"Why?"

"Because it's so strong that it drains a lot of power from Winter Wolf and leaves him vulnerable to attacks afterward. He won't be able to do anything at all so he basically becomes a sitting duck."

"That's not good." Rikaru sighed and nodded.

"That's the price of having so much power." Blue Dragon remained silent as he thought about it.

"Can't your shadow recover?" Shu asked and Rikaru shook his head.

"Yeah but it'll take a while. About a half an hour to be specific." Rikaru looked at Blue Dragon then back at Shu. "Anyway, it's time to put the things you and Blue Dragon have learned so far together in a practice battle. Are you ready?"

"Ready." Blue Dragon and Winter Wolf were now in a fighting stance and raced towards each other.

Meanwhile...

"Are you sure we should do this Captain?" a man asked. He was wearing sandy brown cargo pants and his feet were wrapped in light brown bandage wraps. He had forest green eyes and short dark brown hair. "We're doing this too far into the Mainland."

"Quite complaining Sampson." the Captain said. He was also wearing sandy brown cargo pants but his feet were wrapped in white bandage wraps. He had dark brown eyes and short light gray hair with a short beard. "It's because of our situation that we're doing this. Do you wish for us to starve to death?"

"No Captain Krews but-" Sampson was cut off when Krews grabbed him by his throat.

"We_ must_ do this! The strong take what they want and the weak get wiped out! That is our law and we follow it accordingly!" Krews shouted and he dropped Sampson on the ground. "Besides, these villagers are weak little humans. We are werewolves and I _refuse_ to have our kind hide from those weaker than us! Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes sir." Sampson said and six more male werewolves in human form joined them. They were wearing the same color cargo pants and they all had the same color bandage wraps as Sampson.

"Now, let's grab some supplies and..._feed._" Krews said while his fangs started growing and his eyes started changing into wolf ones.

Back with the others...

"You've done well and you've gotten stronger Shu. I'm proud of you." Rikaru said after their shadows disappeared and Shu ran over to him.

"Really?" Shu asked with an excited smile and his eyes were sparkling with admiration. Rikaru looked at him and he was surprised to see young boy like this. A small feeling appeared within his instincts and it caught him off guard. It was like a fatherly instinct and Rikaru felt uncomfortable feeling this way for a human child. He took off his hood and ran a hand through his hair. He hoped that this mission would end soon or he'll end up actually being on their side and betraying Nene. Rikaru looked at Shu and smiled. He ruffled Shu's short spiky hair and Shu puffed his chest out with pride. Rikaru's werewolf ears appeared and he immediately froze. He turned to the direction where the sound was coming from and he removed his hand from Shu's head. "What is it Rikaru?"

"The village..." Rikaru trailed off and he sniffed the air. He smelled the scent of blood and growled. "It's being attacked by werewolves."

"What!" Shu shouted and Rikaru ran off. "Wait for me!"

In the Village...

"Werewolves!" a man shouted as he ran away only to be caught and savagely devoured by a brown werewolf. More were running through the village stealing some supplies and devouring humans. They were using their strong claws to run on all fours on the walls of several buildings after their prey and one of them howled.

"I'm guessing these are werewolves maro." Marumaro said hiding behind Zola. Jiro and Zola had their swords drawn while the others hid behind them. Rikaru raced over to them with Shu following.

"Oh man." Shu said in shock and two of the brown werewolves turned their attention to them.

"They've noticed us." Bouquet said while trembling in fear behind Zola. The two brown werewolves raced towards them on all fours with their fangs bared and Zola stood ready. Then Rikaru raced towards them and swiftly punched one of them in the stomach. It was knocked back a couple of feet and Rikaru did the same to the other one.

"I see more of them." Kluke said and Rikaru turned to see the six more werewolves joining them. One of them was a dark brown werewolf and looked stronger than the others.

"I guess it's safe to assume that the dark brown one is the leader." Jiro said and Rikaru growled in annoyance.

"All of you just need to stay back. Use your shadows if they make it past me." Rikaru said.

"There are eight of them and you're the only werewolf on our side. There's nothing iffy about this situation." Zola said and Rikaru looked at her.

"Oh ye of little faith." Rikaru said playfully and Zola chuckled. "Well it looks like you all will be able to see my werewolf form after all."

"Wait, don't tell us you're going to strip in front of us." Jiro said and Rikaru looked at him like he was crazy.

"Of course not Jiro." Rikaru gestured one of his hands to the girls. "There are ladies present."

"So that means..." Shu trailed off and Rikaru sighed.

"Yes, it's unfortunate but I don't really have a choice and I really like this outfit too." Rikaru said and he tossed his swords to Zola and Jiro. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were now wolf eyes and he started transforming. His body grew taller and his muscle mass also grew. Black fur started growing and his clothes started ripping off. His feet turned into wolf like paws and a thick black tail grew. His arms grew longer until his fingers reached his knees and his claws turned into animal ones while his hands remained human like. His head morphed into that of a wolf and his eyes were glowing a bright gold. Zola and her group watched in shock as Rikaru finished transforming and he roared at the group of enemy werewolves. The leader of the group roared back at him and its fur bristled. Rikaru got down on all fours and raced towards them with his large fangs bared. The group of werewolves, except the leader, did the same and a vicious fight ensued. Scratches and bites were exchanged back and forth so fast that the others were unable to follow most of it. Rikaru scratched a brown werewolf's left eye out and it roared in pain. The black werewolf backhanded another brown werewolf into a building and he proceeded to bury his fangs in another one's right shoulder.

"This is horrible." Bouquet asked.

"This is how they fight. All we can do is stay back and hope Rikaru can hold them all back." Zola said and she saw a brown werewolf run past Rikaru towards them.

"Maro!" Marumaro shouted and Zola put Rikaru's sword down.

"What are you doing Zola?" Shu asked and Zola readied her sword.

'I really do hope this sword is made out of silver for this crazy thing I'm about to do.' Zola thought and the brown werewolf leaped towards them. Bouquet screamed and Zola ducked under it. She stabbed her sword into the brown werewolf's chest and it yelped in pain. A sizzling sound was heard before Zola removed her sword and the brown werewolf fell to the ground. It whimpered in pain as the wound continued to burn and Zola looked at her sword.

"So it's made of silver after all." Kluke said.

"I guess so." Zola said and she saw the brown werewolf get up. She ran towards it and stabbed it again through its heart. It roared before dropping to the ground dead and Zola sheathed her sword. "I'll clean my sword off later."

"That was amazing Zola!" Shu shouted and Zola smiled. They turned their attention back to Rikaru's battle and saw that it was now just Rikaru and the leader left. Rikaru had a couple deep scratch marks on his chest and a wound on his left shoulder that looked like one of the brown werewolves bit it. The two were exchanging growls, snarls and roars which Zola and the others thought was just them talking in their native language.

"What are they saying?" Bouquet asked and Jiro looked at her.

"How should we know? I'm pretty sure none of us can speak werewolf." Jiro said as the two werewolves started fighting.

"But I can." a female voice said and the others turned to see a girl sitting on the roof of a building next to them. She had silver colored eyes with long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. She wore a red sleeveless shirt with blue jean shorts and black shoes. Zola pointed her sword at her and the girl held her hands up in surrender. "Whoa there. I'm not here to eat you or anything."

"Then why are you here?" Zola asked.

"My village heard about the attack the werewolf marauders were planning in the Mainland so my king sent us to stop them but it looks like my brother is already handling it." the girl said and the others looked surprised.

"Your brother?" Marumaro asked and the girl nodded.

"Wait, what do you mean 'us'?" Shu asked. Then a man with dark gray hair and bright blue eyes appeared beside the girl. He was also wearing blue jean shorts but had on a forest green sleeveless shirt and blue shoes.

"Rikaru is her brother and it appears that he's busy right now." the man said in a british accent and he looked at the blonde girl next to him. "By the way, did you even bother to introduce yourself young lady?"

"Fine." the girl said annoyed and they jumped down from the roof. "My name is Kristina and this guy is Randolph."

"Tis a pleasure to meet you." Randolph said bowing and Zola lowered her sword.

"I take it you two are from the same village that Rikaru is." Zola said and the two nodded.

"There aren't just werewolves like us that live there. Several humans live peacefully alongside us." Kristina said and she looked over at the two werewolves that were fighting. "I should help my brother."

"No need. Rikaru is more than capable of handling it himself." Randolph said.

"Rikaru's your brother?" Shu asked and Kristina nodded.

"You two look nothing alike." Jiro said.

"Yeah we get that a lot." Rikaru walked over to them on two legs instead of four and looked at Kristina. He barked at her and Kristina looked at him.

"I was ordered to come here and help but obviously I didn't have to." Kristina said and Rikaru snorted.

"Rikaru can't talk?" Bouquet asked and Randolph looked at her.

"When we transform into our werewolf forms, we can only speak our native language. So to your group, he loses the ability to talk to you in your language but he can still understand what you're saying." Randolph said.

"Hey Randolph, can you find bro some new clothes?" Kristina asked and Randolph nodded. Shu walked over to Rikaru and looked up at him. The black werewolf towered above him and Shu looked at him in awe.

"Cool!" Shu shouted and Rikaru gently ruffled his hair.

"Well since Randolph and I didn't need to come here we'll be heading our way back to Desert-Moon Village." Kristina said folding her arms and Rikaru nudged her with his snout. Kristina almost fell over and she glared at him.

"What?" Kristina asked annoyed and Rikaru made a couple growls at her. Kristina thought for a minute and nodded.

"Yeah I'll go investigate."

"What did he say?" Marumaro asked and Kristina looked at him.

"He wants me to investigate why the marauders ventured this far in the Mainland just for supplies and..'food'." Kristina said. "There are plenty of villages closer that they could've attacked but they didn't."

"Yes it is strange." Zola said and Randolph returned with some new clothes for Rikaru.

"Well we hope to cross paths with you again. We must return to his majesty to report our findings." Randolph said and Kristina nodded.

"See you later bro." Kristina said before she followed Randolph outside the village.

"Things are starting to get unusual around here and something tells me that Nene isn't the one behind this." Zola said.

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I bet you thought Kristina would join their group right? No? Meh, whatever. Anyway, Read and Review!


	6. Chapter 6

Hello and welcome to chapter six everyone! I've decided to keep Rikaru having black hair since I'd rather not go back and change the story. Also because my readers requested to keep it black in the reviews so it shall be so. One more thing, if you youtube skyrim werewolf transformation and watch it, that's how the werewolves in this story transform and roar. Anyway, enjoy!

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"I've never seen Shu this excited since he wanted to find a Knight Master." Kluke said as the others watched Shu shoot one question after the other about werewolves at Rikaru. Now the werewolf didn't mind answering those questions but he was getting annoyed with how fast Shu shot him each question back to back. Rikaru was wearing a sleeveless black undershirt so his tattoos were visible, sandy brown cargo shorts, black and white shoes and light brown fur bracers. The others, except Shu and Jiro, were surprised to see what he looked like now that he wasn't wearing a hood anymore.

"That's enough Shu." Zola said. She also wanted to know more about werewolves since she never saw any of them until that fiasco in the last village they were in and who knows how many things she heard about them were false.

"I'll answer your questions after we meet up with Homeron." Rikaru said and Shu nodded. They walked into a large room in the Subaru Kingdom and Homeron was standing there waiting for them.

"There you guys are." Homeron said and everyone sat down. "However, I did ask for Zola to come alone."

"That's rather rude to leave the rest of us out of the loop Homeron." Rikaru said sitting next to Kluke and Homeron sighed.

"Yeah fine. Well I'll tell all of you what I found out so far." Homeron said. "The woman you're after is named Delphinium and she's a member of Gran Kingdom's intelligence."

"So is Nene the one commanding her to gather information?" Shu asked and Rikaru narrowed his eyes.

"It's possible but I'm not sure yet." Homeron said.

'If he was then I would know about it. The only other person who has enough resources besides Lord Nene and I to use those spies is General Logi.' Rikaru thought.

"Anything else?" Zola asked.

"After stealing the Extra Seven, she boarded a Gran Kingdom battleship called the Norg but the information about where the Norg is hiding is unknown." Homeron said.

"Aren't there records about where the ship went?" Jiro asked and Homeron shook his head.

"So basically the records were erased." Zola said.

"Along with all the flight data." Homeron said.

"Then we should just board this ship and get the records ourselves." Shu said.

"Are you serious?" Kluke asked and Shu grinned at her.

"Of course."

"Things like this are never that simple Shu." Rikaru said and his werewolf ears appeared. Everyone looked at them as one of them twitched and Bouquet squeeled.

"They're so adorable!" Bouquet shouted and raced over to touch them. Rikaru growled slightly and the others laughed. A couple battleships started cruising through the air and they all looked outside.

"Are those Gran Kingdom battleships?" Shu asked and Zola stood up.

"Relax, they're the battleships from the Subaru Kingdom." Zola said.

"I don't blame you for confusing them with Gran Kingdom though. Subaru used to be allied with Gran Kingdom until Nene's growing power and ambition threatened them." Homeron said.

"And they're headed this way to crush them." Zola said.

"So we're stuck in another battle again?" Kluke asked.

"This isn't good maro." Marumaro said.

"Aw come on you two! This is the opportunity we need to board the Norg." Shu said.

"Shu's right and we need to hurry before the Norg ends up getting destroyed in battle." Homeron said.

"First, we should check in with the Subaru fleet." Zola said.

"We should offer our help to their army right?" Jiro asked and Zola nodded.

"Knowing that old man I highly doubt he'll let you." Rikaru said.

"You know him?" Homeron asked.

"A bit. He's an incredibly stubborn old man and isn't the type to allow outsiders to help him." Rikaru said and he walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Kluke asked.

"To get Plan B ready in case he refuses our help." Rikaru said and he left.

Outside...

"_Excellent work Rikaru_." Nene said. Rikaru was speaking to him through a communicator.

"What are your orders my lord?" Rikaru asked.

"_Just continue to help Zola and her little brats. We need them to fully trust you if we plan to deliver a crushing blow to them when they get here_."

"As you wish." Rikaru said and he hung up. He was starting to get mixed feelings about going through with this. He didn't know about Zola but those children were starting to grow on him. He was starting to feel a bit protective of them and he gritted his fangs. Rikaru clenched his fist in frustration and growled. 'What the hell is wrong with me? I have to stay indifferent towards them or else I'll end up protecting them from Nene.'

"Hey you!" A voice shouted and Rikaru turned around to see a Subaru soldier walking towards him. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"That's a very good question. Allow me to answer that in the best way I can." Rikaru said with his eyes suddenly glowing and his fangs lengthening.

With the others...

"I can't believe that guy!" Kluke shouted.

"Guess Rikaru was right after all." Jiro said and they saw Subaru soldiers running away in fear. Zola grabbed one by the back of his collar and turned him towards her.

"What's going on?" Zola asked.

"W-W-Were-Werewolf!" The soldier shouted in fear.

"Where is it?" The soldier pointed towards the battleship garage.

"Over there." Zola let the soldier go and he ran away.

"Don't tell me Rikaru..." Shu trailed off and they ran over to the garage. They stopped and saw a large black werewolf terrorizing the soldiers. It roared and chased the last soldier away. It looked at Zola and the others before walking towards Kluke. It gently nudged her before it leaped into a Subaru battleplane.

"I get it." Kluke said. "Rikaru's trying to say that he got a ship for us."

"Wait, that was Rikaru?" Homeron asked and the others nodded.

"That guy.." Zola said shaking her head. They all boarded and it took off into the air. Rikaru returned to human form and rejoined them once his clothes were back on.

"Can we catch them?" Jiro asked.

"Watch me." Kluke said.

"When can I use this thing?" Marumaro asked while playing with the ship's turrent.

"Hopefully never." Rikaru said leaning on the rail while looking at the clouds.

"We're catching up." Kluke said.

"I got them." Marumaro said and he pointed the ship's gun at the Gran Kingdom fleet. As soon as he did that, the battle began.

"Thanks a lot Marumaro!" Bouquet shouted.

"I didn't even do anything!" Marumaro shouted back as the ship dodged several shots from the Gran Kingdom fleet.

"How are we supposed to find the Norg through all this chaos?" Kluke asked.

"Is that it?" Rikaru asked pointing to a ship that was moving slow and unsteady.

"Let's see if we can get on board." Zola said and Kluke moved the ship closer to it.

"How are you going to get over there Homeron?" Bouquet asked.

"I'll simply just jump over there." Homeron said.

"Wait, I can have Blue Dragon take you." Shu said and he summoned his shadow. Blue Dragon picked Homeron up and flew him towards the Norg. Homeron jumped on the ship and Blue Dragon disappeared.

"What's next?" Kluke asked.

"We'll stay away from the Norg for now and once Homeron signals us we'll pick him up." Zola said.

"Um I'd hate to ruin this mission accomplished moment but we've got trouble." Rikaru said and the other sw a Gran Kingdom battleship pointing its guns at them. More Gran Kingdom ships started shooting at them and a blast hit the ship.

"We've been hit!" Shu shouted.

"Clearly." Rikaru said sarcastically.

"I can't control the ship!" Kluke shouted as the ship continued to fall and it landed on a Gran Kingdom battleship.

"I'm not sure if we just got lucky or our luck just ran out." Rikaru said.

"Go and repair the ship Kluke." Zola said and Kluke hopped off the ship with Jiro following. Then Gran Kingdom robots appeared and they summoned their shadows. Rikaru's werewolf ears appeared and he turned his attention to the Norg. It looked to him like it took heavy damage and it was falling from the sky.

"Yeah our luck just ran out." Rikaru said and the others saw the Norg falling.

"Oh no Homeron!" Shu shouted and Rikaru summoned his shadow. "What are you doing?"

"Going to save Homeron." Rikaru said. "Winter Wolf, Crystal Ice Shard and aim for that falling ship."

"Sir yes sir." Winter Wolf said and he summoned a large ice shard. Rikaru jumped on it and Winter Wolf threw it towards the Norg. The shard hit the ship and Rikaru held on as the Norg continued falling.

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Decided to end it here. Read and Review!


	7. Chapter 7

Blaaaaaaaaaaaah! XD. Hello my lovely readers and welcome to chapter seven. Sadly I go to a year round school so I don't have the summer off to concentrate on this story -_-. Well, enjoy!

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"I haven't had this much fun in a while." Rikaru said while hanging on to the falling battleship. Both his arms were transformed and his claws dug through the steel so he wouldn't go flying off. Rikaru let go once the battleship entered a forest and leaped off into the trees before the ship crashed to the ground. His arms returned back to normal and he brushed himself off. Rikaru started leaping through the trees looking for Homeron until he saw an escape pod with a small group of people in front of it and landed on the ground next to them. "There you are Homeron."

"Oh hey Rikaru. How did you get here?" Homeron asked.

"Well I landed on the ship and jumped off before it crashed. Someone has to watch out for you for Shu." Rikaru said and Homeron smiled.

"So where are we?" a Gran Kingdom soldier asked.

"It looks like we're in Brandish Woods." Homeron said and Rikaru sighed.

"Of course we would land in a place dangerous for humans." Rikaru said and the four Gran Kingdom soldiers looked at him.

"What do you mean 'dangerous for humans'?" another soldier asked.

"Rikaru here is a werewolf and last time I checked, they're very strong creatures." Homeron said. "Let's just hope we don't get attacked by an army of the monsters that live here."

"Oh but being attacked by one or two is just dandy." Rikaru said sarcastically.

"Because you'll be here to protect us and make sure we get these guys to Subaru." Homeron said.

"What! Why should we surrender to the enemy?" a soldier asked and Rikaru glared in his direction. He started stripping his clothes off and transformed into his werewolf form. With a mighty roar he raced towards him and the soldier screamed. Rikaru leaped over him and attacked an insect monster that was behind him. The insect's green blood painted some of the trees and part of the ground as Rikaru tore it to pieces. He attacked two more that appeared and killed them. The soldiers looked on in horror as Rikaru walked back with green blood coating his muzzle and claws.

"See, we'll be fine with Rikaru here." Homeron said as he picked up Rikaru's clothes. He figured that Rikaru would stay in that form so he decided to hold on to his clothes for now.

"Subaru sounds good right about now." the Captain said.

"We should just wait for our allies instead." a soldier protested and Rikaru growled.

"Our furry friend here is right. It's much to dangerous for us to stay here and wait for help." Homeron said and they started walking.

"So why is this werewolf helping us?" the Captain asked. "I've heard stories about them being savage beasts who's only desire is to kill, destroy and dominate."

"Yeah well..." Homeron trailed off and he looked at Rikaru. The black werewolf didn't bother looking at them and was listening out for danger. "The most I can say about that is not to believe everything you hear."

"What do you mean?" a soldier asked.

"Well, Rikaru here is proof that not all werewolves are what people may think. I mean sure how he handled those monsters was a bit savage but he did it to protect us. He's got a big heart of gold beneath that monstrous exterior of his." Rikaru's eyes softened and his ears drooped slightly.

My_ heart isn't as good as you think it is Homeron_.' Rikaru thought as they continued walking and it started to get dark. He stopped when he sensed something and looked around.

"What is it Rikaru?" the Captain asked and Rikaru growled.

"From what Shu told me, the guy can't talk when he's in that form." Homeron said. "But from the way he's looking around, I'd say that he senses something and he feels uneasy about it."

"It's the monsters." the engineer said. "We should hurry and get out of here."

"Agreed." the Captain said and they continued walking. Rikaru held his large hand out in front of them and snarled loudly. Several bear like monsters with one eye and a horn leaped out of the bushes and Rikaru attacked them. A couple kidnapped one soldier and Rikaru punched one away from the Captain. He roared at the monsters and backhanded one away from Homeron. The rest of the monsters ran away and Rikaru growled.

"What the hell were those things?" a soldier asked.

"They're Obacks." the engineer said scared and Rikaru growled even louder. More Obacks appeared behind the engineer and swiftly took him away. Rikaru turned around and more appeared behind the soldier. They grabbed him and disappeared into the woods. Rikaru snarled loudly and stood closer to the Captain and Homeron.

"We need a rescue plan or we'll end up as their dinner." Homeron said and Rikaru sniffed the air. He started walking on all fours and gestured for them to follow him. "Rikaru wants us to follow him. He may have found where the Obacks took them."

"Let's go." the Captain said and they followed Rikaru to a blue colored tree with eggs of the same color attached to it. "Okay Homeron, you and Rikaru can leave now."

"What?" the Captain looked at him.

"I'm gonna save them no matter what and I can't just ask you two to take that risk." Rikaru snorted.

"You're not gonna get rid of us that easily. Rikaru and I will help you out." Homeron said and Rikaru nodded in agreement.

"So how do we lead those Obacks out of hiding?" the Captain asked and Rikaru leaped over to the tree. He took a deep breath and howled to the bright full moon. It echoed thoughout the woods and the wind swayed as if dancing to his enchanting song. The Obacks charged out of their nest and Rikaru roared before he charged towards them. The Captain, Rikaru and Homeron managed to fight the rest of them off and they were breathing heavily.

"After all the work I did to make sure the Nord was destroyed I find you here Homeron." a voice said and they looked around to see where it was coming from. "You always did tend to appear at the most unexpected times so I'm not that surprised."

"I know it's you Delphinium and the Captain told me everything so I know that Logi is behind all of this." Homeron said.

"Well it'll be a shame that the information you found won't leave this forest."

"I doubt it. Rikaru and I will stop you and get that information to Shu and the others." Delphinium laughed and Homeron looked confused. "What's so funny?"

"I never thought that you could be this naive Homeron." Delphinium said and Rikaru flinched.

"What are you talking about?" Delphinium appeared before them and smirked.

"Rikaru was never here to help you. In fact, he's done an excellent job leading me here so I can get rid of you." Homeron looked at Rikaru shocked and the black werewolf remained silent.

"He's Lord Nene's little werewolf pet and was secretly leading you to your demise." Rikaru appeared behind Homeron and grabbed him. He couldn't move thanks to the werewolf's strong grip and the claws from Delphinium's shadow pierced straight through Homeron's chest. The claws disappeared and Rikaru threw Homeron to the ground. Rikaru grabbed his clothes from Homeron and walked behind the tree. He was back in his human form with his clothes on and walked over to a dying Homeron.

"Y-You...were..." Rikaru sighed and nodded.

"I'm a loyal werewolf warrior of Gran Kingdom. Everything I've done and will continue to do is all to make sure that Lord Nene's ambition comes to fruition." Rikaru said with an emotionless stare. "I was never on your side or Shu's for that matter. His little group has always been nothing more than a nuisance to me and I will remove them from Lord Nene's path."

"Bull...shit." Homeron said weakly with a small pool of blood forming under him. Rikaru looked at him surprised and Homeron grinned at him, showing his blood stained teeth. "If that really was your goal then you would've killed them a while ago."

"I really would have but Lord Nene wants to get rid of them personally." Homeron coughed up some blood and looked back up at him.

"Don't...be...such a...liar Rikaru." Rikaru's eyes narrowed as he let the dying informant continue with his last words. "I could tell...that they were starting...to grow on you. The...looks you gave...them...held geniune...friendship. You...do...care about them."

"I do not!" Rikaru shouted and he slammed his fist on the ground next to Homeron's head. His top canines grew until they looked like mini sabers and his scleras turned black as snarled loudly. "I could care less about them! The only thing that matters to me is fulfilling Lord Nene's orders! If I wasn't ordered to bring them to him then I would kill them on the spot!"

"Keep...telling yourself that." Homeron said as he slowly closed his eyes and died. Rikaru's claws dug into the dirt and he continued growling. He finally stopped and his face returned to normal.

"Anger management issues much?" Delphinium teased and Rikaru sighed.

"Shu and the others are on their way here. You should leave before they appear." Rikaru said and Delphinium walked away.

"So that's the truth huh." the Captain said appearing and Rikaru narrowed his eyes.

"Yes and I'm afraid you know too much now." Rikaru said and he raced towards the Captain. He grabbed a dead Oback's paw and forced its claws straight through the Captain's heart, killing him instantly. He dropped the Oback on the ground was deep in thought. Shu and the others arrived and gasped at the scene before them.

"What happened Rikaru?" Kluke asked and Rikaru looked at them sadly.

"We were outnumbered by these Obacks that attacked us. Delphinium appeared and she killed Homeron." Rikaru said and Shu looked at him shocked and ran over to Homeron's body. Rikaru watched him and put his hand on Shu's shoulder. "I'm sorry Shu, I wasn't able to save him. I...failed you."

"I-It's not your f-fault Rikaru. Y-You took on all t-these monsters to protect him. There w-was no way y-you could've known Delphinium w-would appear." Shu said crying and Rikaru nodded.

"Homeron did manage to get the information you needed." Rikaru said and everyone looked at him. "The Extra Seven is being deciphered right now on Logi's battleship."

"Then that's where we're headed." Zola said.

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The end of this chapter. Read and Review!


	8. Chapter 8

You know what? No internet sucks and I felt like I had nothing else to do but sleep. It was torture and plus I had a bad day when I started writing this. Sigh. Anyway, just read on.

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"Poor Shu." Kluke said as they watched Shu walk with them in a very depressed state. The fire in his eyes was now downgraded to a small and quiet candlelight. His shoulders were slumped and he didn't even say a single word since they started walking.

"I've never seen him like this before." Bouquet said and Rikaru sighed. He played a part in Homeron's death and Shu's current behavior was starting to get to him. He had to think of something to snap Shu out of it.

"How about we take a short vacation." Rikaru suggested and everyone looked at him.

"You can't be serious." Jiro said and Rikaru nodded.

"I think we should do that." Zola said and the others looked at her shocked. "If Shu's not in his right mind then our chances of winning against Nene are reduced."

"That's true maro." Marumaro said.

"Yay! A vacation!" Bouquet shouted.

"Well Rikaru, what do you have in mind?" Zola asked.

"How about we spend it in my village." Rikaru said.

"Isn't your village in that very dangerous desert?" Kluke asked.

"Well it's not like we don't have measures to protect the city and the villagers. I suggested it because of the many activities we have." Rikaru said. "As for the view, you'll just have to see it for yourselves."

"Sounds good to me." Marumaro said.

"I'm in." Jiro said and everyone looked at Shu.

"Yeah sure." Shu said with a depressed tone and they sighed.

"Well Rikaru, lead us to your village." Zola said.

"We're gonna need a ship." Rikaru said.

Later...

"Werewolf!" A soldier shouted as Rikaru roared at the small group of soldiers in his werewolf form. The others jumped in the ship and waited for Rikaru to change back. He moved out from behind a couple boulders after putting his clothes on and jumped in the ship. Kluke took off and Rikaru guided her to his village. They entered the vast desert and everyone looked around.

"It feels creepy for some reason maro." Marumaro said.

"That's because there aren't any signs of life for miles." Jiro said.

"Yeah but it shouldn't feel this creepy." Bouquet said.

"What you're feeling is the aura of death." Rikaru said.

"A-Aura of d-death?" Marumaro asked shaking a little.

"Yeah. SandSkull desert has claimed the lives of hundreds of people who have carelessly wondered into it."

"What about the Marauders?" Jiro asked.

"They don't have any flying vehicles so we're mostly safe from them." Everyone looked at Rikaru.

"What do you mean mostly?" Bouquet and Marumaro asked at the same time.

"Well, they have catapults and if they see us then they'll shoot flaming rocks at us but other than that we're fine."

"However, we need to get to Desert-Moon village before a sandstorm comes." Zola said.

"How far do we have left to go Kluke?" Jiro asked.

"Not very far. About eight more miles." Rikaru sniffed the air.

"I suggest we fly faster because a sand storm is coming." Rikaru said and everyone saw the wind start to pick up.

"Fly faster Kluke!" Marumaro shouted and the ship sped up. The wind started to get stronger and sand started flying around rapidly.

"There." Rikaru said pointing to a large solid steel wall formed into a circle. There were steel doors built into one part of the wall and Kluke started flying lower towards them.

"The sandstorm is starting to get stronger." Jiro said and Rikaru pulled out a small blue device. He pressed the button and the steel doors opened. Kluke flew inside and the doors closed.

"That was close maro." Marumaro said.

"Yeah...close." Shu said and the others shook their heads.

"Don't worry my beloved, I'll make sure that this vacation will cheer you up." Bouquet said as Kluke landed the ship and they saw several vehicles that they've never seen before.

"What are these?" Marumaro said.

"These are vehicles that the king's desert warriors use to travel through the desert. They're used to complete errands that we have to go outside the village to complete or to take care of some marauders that are causing trouble." Rikaru said.

"Are you one of the king's desert warriors?" Kluke asked and Rikaru nodded. Another set of thick solid steel doors opened and they all stepped through. Everyone except Rikaru looked around in awe at the tall buildings, open air markets, villagers riding around on raptor-like animals, and the fact that it was cooler in the village than outside.

"How is it cooler in here than out in the desert?" Jiro asked.

"There's an invisible shield that covers the top half of the village. It protects the village from sandstorms and keeps most of the desert heat outside." Rikaru pointed to his right. "If you keep walking that way, you'll see a lake."

"Really?" Bouquet shouted and ran towards the direction where Rikaru pointed with Marumaro following.

"Make sure they don't cause any trouble." Zola said.

"Alright." Jiro said walking to the lake with Kluke following him while dragging Shu.

"You'll have to meet the king sooner or later." Rikaru said.

"Hope he doesn't mind us seeing the lake first." Zola said.

"I'll arrange a meeting for you." Rikaru said and he started walking in the direction towards the palace.

"Welcome back Rikaru." the palace guards said and Rikaru nodded in acknowledgement. He proceeded through the hallway and walked into the throne room. There were vines along the walls and ceiling, small trees, a couple ponds and fountains in the throne room. There was a man with red hair and a beard wearing a sleeveless navy blue shirt, forest green cargo pants and brown sandals. He was wearing a gold crown with a wolf paw in the middle. He was looking outside and turned around to face Rikaru.

"It's been a while Rikaru." the king said and Rikaru kneeled before him.

"It has indeed King Xavier." Rikaru said and he stood up.

"Has Nene stopped giving you missions? Or are you here because of one?" Rikaru sighed.

"Sort of. I brought a group of human shadow wielders here for a small vacation. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. They must be trustworthy if _you're_ the one bringing them here." Xavier walked to his throne and sat down. "Where are they?"

"They're at the lake." Xavier sensed something wrong and cleared his throat.

"Is there something you're not telling me Rikaru?" Rikaru looked uncomfortable.

"My mission is to take these rebel shadow wielders to Lord Nene so they can be executed." Xavier closed his eyes and thought for a moment.

"You sound a bit unhappy about that." Rikaru looked at him and Xavier opened his eyes with a smirk on his face.

"You're joking right?" Xavier chuckled.

"Unfortunately for you, no I'm not joking." Rikaru growled slightly. "Who are these shadow wielders?"

"Three boys named Shu, Jiro and a devee named Marumaro. Two girls named Kluke, Bouquet and a woman named Zola." Xavier raised an eyebrow.

"So the legendary Zola is among them. Those children are very fortunate and I believe you are as well." Rikaru narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Xavier's smirk grew wider.

"I mean that you're very fortunate to have found your future mate." Rikaru looked at Xavier shocked while blushing and the king started laughing.

"I-I'm waiting for you to say 'just kidding'."

"Sorry, I'm not kidding about that." Rikaru sighed in annoyance.

"Why in the hell do you think Zola is my future mate?" Xavier chuckled.

"I'm an old werewolf so I can tell these things about you young ones before you can. You may not realize it now but you're starting to grow fond of her."

"She's a human and my enemy."

"So?" Rikaru was silent after that.

"Don't worry, you'll understand the longer you remain around her." Xavier decided to change the subject. "You need to stop working for Nene."

"What?"

"You heard me Rikaru. _Stop_ working for Nene." Rikaru was starting to get irritated and he growled.

"That's not something I can do."

"Can? Or won't?"

"Forgive my disobedience but I won't." Xavier frowned and rested his head in his left hand.

"You know Nene's goal right?" Rikaru nodded.

"Yes, to rule the world and destroy all opposition."

"Does that really sound appealing to you? To be ruled over by a tyrannical old geezer who will treat everyone like slaves. To a werewolf, being treated as a slave is an unforgivable insult."

"He's my adopted father-" Xavier interrupted him.

"Since when does a parent treat their child, adopted or not, like a mindless servant?" Rikaru clenched his fists. "Your werewolf instincts despise being a servant to anyone."

"Aren't we all servants to you?" Xavier glared at him.

"You all are my friends and comrades and I treat you as such. If I treated you as nothing more than a servant then I would've backhanded you towards the wall for your disrespect." Xavier growling and showing his fangs.

"My apologies. I meant no disrespect." Xavier sheathed his fangs. "I know the kind of person Lord Nene is and I shall remain loyal to him regardless."

"Let me ask you this then. Nene will try to find this place eventually so when that happens, who's side will you be on?" Rikaru froze. "I'm sure you don't want to be considered a traitor to this village and all werewolf kind. So, what will you do?"

"..." Xavier narrowed his eyes and sighed.

"You're already playing the part of the traitor to that group of shadow wielders you brought here with you. Why would this be any different?" Rikaru was about to say something until Xavier raised his hand to silence him. "They may not be werewolves but killing them goes against what you believe in. You'll betray yourself by killing them and once that happens, you'll basically become a mindless murderer with no hint of remorse and that's not who you are."

"How do you know?" Xavier chuckled.

"I've known you for about sixteen years. That's more than enough time to fully know someone." Rikaru looked away. "You've sacrificed so much already for Nene and his cause, will you sacrifice your own heart and pride as a werewolf for him as well?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Xavier shook his head.

"Not now. I just want you to think about it. If you return with the death of Nene or the deaths of those shadow wielders on your shoulders then I'll know your answer."

"What if I don't return at all?"

"Then either you were killed by Nene or those shadow wielders and your death will be honorable or unworthy of even being mentioned. You may leave and tell those shadow wielders that I'll meet with them tomorrow afternoon."

"Yes you majesty." Rikaru left the throne room and exited the palace. He was surprised to see Zola waiting for him. She was casually leaning against the palace wall with her arms folded.

"So, when does he want to see us?" Zola asked.

"Tomorrow afternoon." Rikaru said and he took a couple minutes to look at her. Was King Xavier right or did he just say that to mess with him? Rikaru shook his head and followed Zola to the hotel. 'Things are getting much too complicated.'

Elsewhere...

"Which village should we attack next my lord?" Szabo asked and Nene thought for a moment.

"How about...Desert-Moon Village?" the robot looked at him shocked.

"B-But sir, that's a village full of werewolves and it resides in SandSkull desert. Not only is that place vast but it's dangerous for even our ships to go there. Besides, the sandstorms are strong and hide that village so we can't find it." a soldier walked in and saluted.

"Sir, the cargo has arrived." Nene smirked.

"Cargo my lord?" Szabo asked confused.

"The cargo of silver bullets we've been given by our generous supporter." Nene said.

"Supporter! Supporter!" Deathroy mimicked and another soldier walked in.

"Sir, we've found the location of Desert-Moon Village." a screen popped up and revealed a blinking red dot on a map of SandSkull Desert.

"We should thank Rikaru for this great discovery." Nene said and his evil smirk grew wider.

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Whew okay done! I'm gonna sleep now so Read and Review!


	9. Chapter 9

I feel much better now. It's been hectic at school lately and I have so much homework it's ridiculous. Anyway, read on.

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"Welcome shadow wielders to Desert-Moon village." Xavier said and they kneeled before him.

"We're honored to be here your majesty." Zola said.

"Please stand. All of you are my friends and comrades so no need for so much formality." They all stood up. Rikaru was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

"This is a very nice village you have here your majesty but why did you decide to live out here, considering the harsh conditions outside?" Kluke asked.

"Well, I'm not sure if you know this but werewolves aren't exactly well liked in the Mainland. There are many different werewolf hating villages and some have formed large groups specifically to hunt us."

"What are they maro?"

"One group is called the Silver Blades and the other is called the Krimson Knights. Though granted, the Krimson Knights don't only hunt us but they mostly come after us. They're more organized and much more of a threat to us than the Silver Blades. Their leader is a vampire named Kai who's slaughtered many werewolf villages himself but that's all we know about him." Rikaru growled at the vampire's name.

"What about the Silver Blades?" Jiro asked.

"They own weapons made of pure silver but they're not so well organized. They're sadistic and pretty much attack anyone on the spot because they're so paranoid that they believe anyone who runs into them is a werewolf. Most of them barely even know how to use a weapon and only a select few of them are actual warriors." Rikaru snorted and Xavier chuckled. "There was one more group that consisted of warrior priests and priestesses but they've been wiped out a hundred years ago."

"Who were they?" Bouquet asked.

"They called themselves the Followers of Light. Their leader was a very foolish old man who was obsessed with seeking immortality and more power. In order to make an even bigger name for themselves, he also searched for the very rare light energy. He wanted to harness the energy's power to destroy all darkness in the world."

"Except, doing so will destroy the balance and plunge the world into eternal chaos. Light can't exist without darkness and vise versa but he foolishly believed that it could and the old man died trying to search for a power that hasn't been seen for hundreds of years." Rikaru said and Xavier nodded in confirmation.

"You make it sound like you were there." Jiro said.

"That's because he was." Xavier said and everyone looked at Rikaru shocked.

"Werewolves are immortal just like vampires." Everyone except Rikaru looked at Xavier and he smiled. "Not the type of immortality that you're thinking about."

"There's a difference maro?" Xavier nodded.

"There are many different types of immortality. The type you're thinking about is complete immortality but werewolves and vampires are half-regenerative, biological and, unfortunately, vampiric immortals."

"Biological...half-regenerative...and vampiric immortals?" Kluke asked.

"He means that vampires and werewolves can't age, can regenerate some mortal wounds very quickly and they need to feed off the life forces of others." Zola said and Xavier nodded.

"The different types are complete, biological which means ageless, parasitic, resurrective, legacy, projected, external, regenerative, vampiric and incomplete." Rikaru said.

"I've never heard of most of those." Shu said with a slight interest and everyone looked at him.

"Then allow me to explain." Xavier said and he snapped his fingers. Several guards walked in with chairs and the shadow wielders sat down when the guards left. "I'm sure you all are familiar with complete, legacy and ageless correct?"

"Yes." Kluke answered for the group and Xavier cleared his throat.

"Regenerative is the ability to regenerate mortal wounds quickly like a broken neck or a lost limb. The only things that can kill a werewolf are silver weapons to the heart and head, another werewolf, or a vampire. Anything else won't kill a werewolf and if they have enough stamina or feed off a living creature then they can regenerate almost any wound. A regular bullet or weapon to the heart or head won't kill us and our muscles will push the object out so we can regenerate. Vampires are mostly the same as well. A regular weapon won't kill them and the only thing that can are white ash stakes, another vampire, or a werewolf. Newly turned vampires can be killed by sunlight but someone who is born a vampire will only be reduced in strength by it and unless you can figure out a way to put UV light into bullets or blades then your best bet would be to have a white ash stake handy or have a werewolf or another vampire on your side. I don't know why that's the case though."

"Resurrective is straightforward. Everytime you kill someone they'll just come back to life so the only way to kill them is to let them die of old age. There may be some who die and resurrect into an infant which is very annoying." Rikaru said and Xavier laughed.

"Yes Rikaru here has met someone like that." Xavier said and Rikaru growled in annoyance.

"Projected is basically like a shadow of a person. You can think of it as killing a clone of that person and they'll just keep making another until you kill the original. Incomplete are basically zombies, ghosts, skeletons, revenants, constructs and parasitic, blah blah blah." Rikaru said and the group smiled. Then a loud crash was heard and the everyone looked outside. There were a couple large Gran Kingdom ships that broke through the steel walls and several groups of soldiers poured out into the village.

"It's Gran Kingdom!" Bouquet shouted and Xavier narrowed his eyes. His and Rikaru's werewolf ears appeared and they heard several gun shots. Everyone raced outside and saw many transformed werewolves dead on the ground. Rikaru walked over to one and saw a bullet wound in its chest. He gritted his fangs and turned to the others.

"Somehow Gran Kingdom got a hold of some silver bullets and knowing the nature of a werewolf, I already know how this will turn out." Rikaru said.

"Rikaru, find any injured and pups in the village and lead them to safety. Get your sister and two of my guards to help you." Xavier said and Rikaru nodded.

"We'll help stop Gran Kingdom." Zola said.

"You have my gratitude." Xavier said and while Zola and her group left to fight Gran Kingdom, Xavier walked over to Rikaru. "Nene tracked you here didn't he?"

"I don't know. I never sent any indication that I was here." Xavier's eyes narrowed.

"He still tracked you here regardless. Your allegiance to him has put this village and your sister in grave danger, I can only hope that you see the light and repent for all the trouble you've caused." Rikaru was silent and Xavier left. He looked at the shadow wielders fighting except Shu didn't even bother. Rikaru clenched his fists and walked over to him.

"Pathetic." Rikaru said and Shu looked up at him. "Homeron gave his life to give you the information you needed to stop Nene and this is how you repay him?"

"But-" Rikaru let out a loud werewolf snarl and Shu shut up.

"Enough with your pathetic attempt to make an excuse! If you don't relight that flame, the determination to stop Gran Kingdom, in your heart then Homeron's death would be for nothing!" Rikaru said and Shu clenched his fists. He tightly shut his eyes and reopened them, the same fire in his eyes blazing back to life.

"Y-You're right Rikaru. I won't let Gran Kingdom get away with this!" Shu shouted and with a strong yell, he summoned Blue Dragon with a burst of power. Rikaru smirked and raced off. He stripped off his clothes and transformed into his werewolf form. He let out a howl and a few minutes later, Kristina raced over to him in her werewolf form. Her werewolf form was almost six feet tall with chestnut brown fur. Unlike Rikaru, Kristina had a large patch of fur on her chest. They exchanged a couple barks and growls and started rounding up the injured werewolves and children with two of Xavier's guards. Rikaru gently placed a human child into the safe house and left the two guards inside to protect them. He looked around at the dead human and werewolf bodies and growled. It was as if something clicked in his mind and he let out a roar loud enough for almost the whole village to hear. Xavier listened and smiled before leading his werewolf and human warriors back into battle. Rikaru raced past Zola and the others and proceeded to attack every Gran Kingdom soldier there. Zola ran over to him and knocked a gun out of a soldier's hand from behind the black werewolf. Rikaru looked behind him and saw Zola smirking at him. His ears drooped a little and he stared gently at her. Zola noticed his softened gaze at her and looked at him questionably. Rikaru shook his head and jumped back into the fight.

'It can't be like his majesty said...can it?' Rikaru thought as he clawed a soldier in half. A soldier aimed his gun at Zola and Rikaru jumped in the way. A loud bang sounded and Rikaru held his stomach in pain. Zola turned around and they saw more soldiers surround him and Zola.

"Rikaru, are you alright?" Zola asked as Killer Bat sent an eyebeam blast at another group of soldiers. Then the same soldier shot five more silver bullets at Rikaru. One hit his left shoulder, the second one hit the middle of his chest, the third one hit his right bicep, the fourth one hit his stomach again and the last one hit his left thigh. Rikaru let out a roar of pain and dropped to his knees. Sizzling sounds could be heard coming from his wounds and Zola rushed over. "Don't try to move."

"Excuse me miss Zola but he'll be fine." Xavier said and he grabbed the soldier who shot Rikaru by his neck. He tossed the soldier to Rikaru and the black werewolf bared his large fangs at him. Saliva slid down his pearly white fangs and Rikaru, with a loud snarl, bit into the man's shoulder. The soldier screamed in pain as Rikaru tore off a large chunk of flesh and ate it. Zola looked away in disgust as Rikaru continued feeding. Now the man was dead and Rikaru growled as his muscles started pushing out all five silver bullets. Once the bullets dropped to the ground, the wounds started healing rapidly. The Gran Kingdom soldiers retreated and the remaining Desert-Moon village warriors cheered.

Later...

"Now that Gran Kingdom knows where we reside this village is no longer safe." Xavier said and Rikaru and Kristina were back in their human forms.

"It's still safer than most of the villages in the Mainland." Kristina said and Xavier chuckled.

"Well thanks for letting us stay here but we need to leave." Zola said.

"Anytime. You all are always welcome here." Xavier said.

"Later bro." Kristina said. "Sorry I can't join you guys right now but I still have to complete an investigation."

"No problem." Rikaru said and the group left.

"Glad to see you're back to normal Shu." Marumaro said.

"Yeah it was horrible with you not being yourself." Kluke said.

"Yeah, thanks to Rikaru." Rikaru smiled as they boarded their ship and took off.

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God I'm tired! Nothing says out of shape more than being physically tired from typing up a chapter. Anyway Read and Review while I head to the gym!


	10. Chapter 10

My deepest apologies for not updating for so long. Things have gotten very hectic and I haven't been getting much time to write lately. Anyway, here's a brand spankin new chapter. I decided to post a poll on my bio of what you think Zola should be in this story. So vote!

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Rikaru looked out towards the horizon and was deep in thought. It felt like Nene betrayed him by attacking his village. It was no secret to the leader of Gran Kingdom where the black werewolf lived and he assured Nene that the village wouldn't pose a threat to him. Then again, now that he thought about it, knowing how strong werewolves are he highly doubted Nene believed him. Rikaru growled and clenched his fist. He was such a fool to think Nene would leave a village of werewolves alone.

"Um Rikaru?" the black werewolf turned his head and looked at Shu.

"What is it Shu?"

"Are you okay? You've been really quiet since the attack on your village." Rikaru sighed and ruffled Shu's hair.

"Don't worry about me Shu. I'm just wondering how Nene managed to find my village through the sandstorms." Of course that was a lie and the more he did it, the stronger this small feeling of guilt grew. He didn't like lying to the boy and now he was starting to definitely started to stray from his mission. Whether that was a good or bad thing was currently unknown to him.

"We'll definitely make Nene pay for this Rikaru." Shu said and Rikaru faked a small smile before looking off towards the horizon again. He didn't feel like talking anymore as he tried to sort out his feelings that he wasn't supposed to feel around them. Nene almost destroyed his village, the young shadow wielders were growing on him rapidly, and he was still confused about Zola in regards to what his king told him. It's a wonder that his mind wasn't overloaded trying to sort this all out.

"Uh guys, we have a problem." Kluke said and everyone's attention was on her.

"What is it?" Zola asked.

"We're running out of fuel and there's no place nearby to refuel the ship."

"Then we have no choice but to continue on foot." Kluke landed the ship in a forest and they started walking. Rikaru sniffed the air and he stopped.

"What's wrong maro?" Marumaro asked.

"I smell three humans headed this way very fast." Rikaru's werewolf ears appeared. "They're riding on something with huge wings."

"Might be Logi's goon squad." Jiro said. They dodged a purple beam and Gilliam appeared with his team.

"Ah these three again." Rikaru said with a slightly bored tone.

"Alright, the primary mission is to retrieve the Extra Seven from Logi's battleship. Marumaro, Rikaru and I will stay behind to handle these three while the rest of you go on ahead." Zola said and the others nodded. They ran off leaving Zola, Marumaro and Rikaru behind.

"Any particular reason why you want me to stay here?" Rikaru asked. "Besides the fact that my shadow can slow them down?"

"Were you hoping there was another reason?" Zola asked raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"No!" Rikaru said quickly with a slight blush on his face and Zola smirked. "Let's just get this over with."

"Yeah let's show 'em maro." Marumaro said and they summoned their shadows.

"Winter Wolf, we don't have time to mess around with them so let's hurry and get these three out the way." Rikaru said.

"Sir yes sir." Winter Wolf cracked his knuckles. Rikaru noticed the medallions on Gilliam and his team and narrowed his eyes.

"We'd like to end this as soon as possible so if you don't mind..." Gilliam trailed off and his team activated their medallions. A red aura started surrounding them and their power started increasing. Electricity crackled like several whips and the aura went from red to blue. "Time for some payback."

"Not good maro." Marumaro said as Gilliam, Todd and Bishop moved closer together.

"Wind Scream!" They shouted and they formed a large tornado.

"Run!" Zola shouted and Rikaru grabbed Marumaro. He wrapped an arm around Zola's waist and they both looked at the black werewolf.

"Excuse me." Rikaru said and his eyes transformed. He swiftly started running away and leaping through the trees using his werewolf speed and Zola and Marumaro held onto him tightly. The tornado the ground and caused a large explosion. When the smoke cleared, both Marumaro and Zola were still holding onto Rikaru and they were on a large branch in a tree. Rikaru was trying hard to ignore the fact that he could feel Zola's body against his. He jumped down from the tree and put the two down.

"Thanks." Marumaro said and Rikaru nodded. He couldn't speak because of his embarrasment and Winter Wolf snickered.

"Aw man they dodged it." Todd said.

"Well I was hoping they would. I wanted to enjoy this a bit longer." Bishop said.

"Feather Storm!" Gilliam shouted and sharp feathers rained down towards Zola the others.

"Crystal Ice Shield!" Winter Wolf put up an ice shield and the feathers, along with two purple beams, hit the shield. Cracks appeared on the shield and Rikaru cursed.

"How long can you keep the shield up?" Zola asked.

"About...eight minutes if they keep this up nonstop." Rikaru said and as he gave Winter Wolf more power, the shield regenerated. "Whatever you plan to do I recommend you do it quick."

"Do you have a plan Zola?" Saber Tiger asked and Zola looked at Gilliam's medallion.

"I just might" Zola said and she turned to them. "We're going to stall them."

"Stall them?" Marumaro looked at Zola and Rikaru nodded in agreement with Zola's plan.

"If that medallion keeps forcing them to use more power than they're trained to to, their bodies won't be able to handle the stress. They'll run out of power faster than before and they'll be considerably weakened." Rikaru explained and Marumaro understood.

"But that doesn't mean we can't speed up the process." Zola said with a smirk.

"I'm starting to like you more and more Zola." Winter Wolf said and they dodged another wave of feathers.

"Arctic Breath!" Winter Wolf shot a large stream of frost but the bird shadows dodged it.

"Ray Stinger!"

"Feather Storm!" The attacks collided and it resulted in a large explosion.

"How long will it take maro?" Marumaro asked.

"Who knows. The time it'll take for their power to run out may vary." Rikaru said shrugging.

"Well until then, you guys wanna try an aerial battle?" Zola asked.

"Um...ok." Saber Tiger said in confusion and Zola told them the plan.

"Is there a wide range attack that you know Rikaru?" Zola asked.

"Well it's not an attack but it is wide ranged." Rikaru said. "It'll lower their speed and accuracy but it all depends on if they're fast enough to get away in time."

"At this point we'll take any possible chance we can get." Rikaru nodded and they dodged a blast of purple beams and feathers.

"You and Marumaro need to get away as well. It affects everyone in range except the user." Zola and Marumaro and they took off. Rikaru took a deep breath and Winter Wolf did the same as Gilliam and his team flew towards Rikaru in an attempt to chase after Zola and Marumaro.

"Now! Storm Field!" Winter Wolf's pupils disappeared and he exploded into a strong blast of snow and wind. It violently whipped around Rikaru and Gilliam's team and grew bigger. They were caught in a dome shaped snow storm and after about six minutes, the snow storm disappeared. Icicles appeared on the bird shadows and Gilliam's team were shivering. Winter Wolf reappeared and was breathing heavily. Bishop was seperated from the others and Marumaro and Saber Tiger leaped towards him. Saber Tiger's claws slashed Bishop's shadow and he fell to his death after his shadow disappeared.

"One down." Zola said and she looked to see Winter Wolf and Rikaru still breathing a little heavily. "Got enough energy to use against the other two?"

"We'll manage somehow." Rikaru said and Zola nodded. "The 'Storm Field' attack definitely slowed them down but I don't have a good reading on their speed to tell how much."

"They took out Bishop." Todd said shocked.

"Damn them." Gilliam said and the medallions started glowing purple. Gilliam and Todd winced in pain. "What the hell's going on?"

"It's about time." Zola said.

"Sure is maro." Marumaro said. Gilliam's communicator rang and he looked shocked.

"We're withdrawing?" Gilliam asked angry. He glared at Zola before he and Todd started flying away but not as fast as before.

"Don't know how much time before their speed returns to normal." Rikaru said.

"This is crap! We should take them out here and now!" Todd shouted and he turned around. After two minutes of flying, Winter Wolf appeared with Rikaru standing on his shoulder.

"Peek-a-boo." Rikaru said folding his arms and grinning. Todd glared at him.

"I've got you now!" Todd shouted.

"Hate to break it to you but that's my line. Hornet Assassin!" Killer Bat's attack hit Todd's shadow and he also fell to his death after his shadow disappeared. Rikaru landed on the ground and their shadows disappeared.

"Are we done maro?" Marumaro asked.

"Seems like it." Zola said. "Let's meet up with the others and press on."

"Sheesh I feel overworked." Rikaru said slightly leaning against a tree.

"Is that your laziness talking?" Zola asked smirking and Rikaru shot up straight from the tree.

"Well excuse me Zola but forgive me if I haven't exactly had a prolonged battle like this in a few years." Rikaru said. "Plus I used more power than I intended."

"Whatever you say wolf boy." Zola said amused. "Anyway, let's find the others."

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I was originally gonna make this chapter, two chapters in one but I have this poll I want people to vote in. I like having my readers participate in the future of my story plus I value my readers' input. So vote and the next chapter will come out in about two-three days. I'm also looking for a beta reader since my ass of a laptop has no spell check and I don't have much time to proof read right now. Read, Review and Vote!


	11. Chapter 11

I have returned my lovely readers with an awesometastic new chapter. I've read my poll results and just like me, most of my readers enjoy the forbidden love concept. :) Anyway, read on!

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"We beat that Cynthia chick good." Shu said grinning.

"More like we beat her because of her stubbornness." Jiro said and Shu frowned.

"It was still a victory regardless." Kluke said and they started walking.

"Now onward to Logi's ship!" Bouquet and she ran into Rikaru, who stopped abruptly. Bouquet moved back and rubbed her head. "What's wrong Rikaru?"

"We've got company." Rikaru said and the others stopped. "Three hostiles hiding behind those boulders a few yards ahead."

"I should've known we weren't done maro." Marumaro said and three people stepped from behind the boulders. It was Andropov, Lemaire and Schneider.

"So we meet again Miss Zola." Lemaire said and he looked at Rikaru. "You too as well."

"Stating the obvious huh." Rikaru said.

"Alright listen up. There are seven of us and three of them. The tall one will come after me but I don't want anyone coming to help me." Zola said and Rikaru sighed.

"I assume you'll beat him hands down?" Zola nodded and Rikaru chuckled.

"Jiro and Marumaro will handle the other two. Shu, Kluke and Rikaru will provide Bouquet with enough protection to get her aboard Logi's ship." Zola said and Bouquet instantly clung to Rikaru and Shu.

"I feel so safe now." Bouquet said and Kluke glared at her.

"Let's go." Shu said and they ran off with Killer Bat covering their escape.

"Hey Rikaru, where are your swords?" Kluke asked.

"I left them back in Desert-Moon Village. I don't really use them very often." Rikaru said and he stopped.

'It's him.' Rikaru thought and Logi appeared.

"Figured I'd run into you sooner or later Rikaru." Logi said and the others looked at him.

'If this guy blows my cover then I'll seriously have to kill him.' Rikaru growled.

"What do we do Rikaru?" Bouquet asked.

"Shu and I will handle Logi. Kluke, you escort Bouquet to the ship and finish the mission." Rikaru said and Kluke nodded. She left with Bouquet and no one said anything for a few minutes.

"By the way, there's something that I need to ask you Rikaru." Logi said.

"What is it?" Rikaru asked and Logi pulled out a gold amulet from his pocket.

"There have been several werewolf attacks recently and they managed to be stupid enough to leave a clue." Logi tossed the amulet to Rikaru and the werewolf easily caught it. There was a black bat with ruby red eyes and there were words in a different language. Rikaru knew what language the words were in but couldn't decipher what it said. Rikaru had an angry look on his face and he clutched the amulet so hard he almost cracked it. He growled loudly and Shu looked at him worried.

"What's that?" Shu asked.

"Now's not the time Shu. I'll tell you and the others afterwards." Rikaru said.

"I assume you know what that amulet is. The werewolf Valkyrie killed was holding it in its paw." Rikaru put the amulet in his pocket.

"That's...impossible." Rikaru said. "This amulet is of no use to werewolves so why would one have this?"

"Do you think I'm lying?"

"Did you come here to talk and debate theories about this or defend your ship?" Rikaru asked and he smelled the scent of smoke and the faint smell of undeath. He loudly cursed and ran to where the scents were coming from. Shu ran after him and they stopped to see Bouquet hiding behind Kluke. Phoenix projected a barrier around them and there was a woman standing before them. She was wearing a white jacket with the hood over her head, a red shirt, a black skirt and thigh high boots. Her skin was very pale and her eye color was blood red. She turned to face the newcomers and smirked, showing her sharp fangs.

"I'm looking for General Logi. He has something that doesn't belong to him and I'm here to take it back." the woman said and Rikaru stepping in front of Shu.

"You mean this?" Rikaru asked taking out the amulet and showing it to her. The woman sighed.

"Just great. The amulet fell in the hand of a flea ridden dog." the woman said and Rikaru growled. "A filthy beast like you has no use for it for obvious reasons."

"She's just asking for it." Shu said angry. Zola, Jiro and Marumaro ran over to them and stopped when they saw the woman. Rikaru gave Shu the amulet and Kluke and Bouquet ran over to them.

"Shu, don't let this vampire get that amulet." Rikaru said and he turned to Zola. "Get the others out of here and fast. I'll follow you when I can."

Zola looked at the woman with unnatural eyes and back at Rikaru. His eyes turned into wolf ones and they urged her to get the others away. Zola nodded and ordered the others to run. The vampire smacked her lips in annoyance and started running after them until Rikaru moved in the way.

"Move wolf." the vampire said.

"Make me bat." Rikaru said and his head halfway morphed into his werewolf one. He took off his clothes and fully morphed into his werewolf form. Logi moved to his ship to assess the damages and Rikaru snarled.

"As soon as you beasts transform, your intelligence takes a complete nosedive." the woman said and Rikaru growled in response. The woman swiftly ran towards him and Rikaru blocked a punch aimed at his head. She roundhouse kicked him and Rikaru flew back a few feet. She once again ran towards him but Rikaru backhanded her and she hit a boulder a yard away. Rikaru charged towards her on all fours and pinned her to the boulder. He continued to snap at her neck with his large fangs that she swiftly dodged. She kicked him away from her and he landed on his paws. The vampire's nails extended into claws and she slashed Rikaru's chest. He roared in pain and used his claws to slash her arm off. The woman yelled out in pain and held her bleeding stump. Rikaru snarled and tackled her to the ground in a burst of speed and dug his fangs in her neck and shoulder. She screamed in pain as Rikaru continued tearing up her neck and shoulder. The vampire bled to death and Rikaru stood up. He shifted back to human form and put his pants on. He used the woman's jacket to wipe her vampire blood off his mouth and followed Zola's scent in the direction they ran in.

In Jibral...

"Ow, can you please be more gentle Zola?" Bouquet asked. She was transformed into a page of the Extra Seven and Zola was looking over it. Kluke was done copying and Bouquet transformed into the second page. The door burst open and Rikaru walked in shirtless with several people behind him saying something about his chest wound.

"I'll be fine. There's no need for you to worry and follow me everywhere." Rikaru said and he closed the door. His chest wound was almost fully healed and he sighed as he leaned against the door.

"Well aren't you popular." Zola said and Rikaru looked at her.

"Don't start with me Zola." Rikaru said putting his shirt back on and Zola chuckled.

"Are you okay Rikaru?" Shu asked and Rikaru nodded.

"That vampire was a mere newborn. They don't really pose much of a threat to an elder werewolf like me." Zola smirked.

"So basically you're an old man." Rikaru's eye twitched in irritation.

"Dammit Zola I'm not that old!" Zola laughed.

"Really then how old are you?" Jiro asked and Rikaru remained silent.

"Twenty-one."

"That's a damn lie and you know it." Zola said and Rikaru growled slightly.

"Ok fine. I'm six hundred and fifty." Everyone looked at him in shock. Later, Kluke finished copying the Extra Seven and Zola looked over it.

"By the way Rikaru, here's the amulet." Shu said and he handed the amulet over to Rikaru.

"What's that maro?" Marumaro asked and Rikaru looked over it.

"It's an amulet used primarily to strengthen the power of vampires." Rikaru said and he placed the amulet on the table. Zola picked it up and looked over it.

"I've never seen this language before." Zola said looking over the words circled around the bat.

"Do you know Rikaru?" Bouquet asked.

"The words are in a language that I do know of."

"What language is that?" Jiro asked.

"It's in vampiric." Everyone looked at him.

"Well can you translate it?" Kluke asked and Rikaru shook his head.

"I'm sorry to say that I can't. Since I'm a werewolf, my mind is unable to grasp its concepts." The children looked at Zola.

"So what you're saying is that your brain is incapable of learning this language." Zola said and Rikaru nodded.

"Exactly. The vampiric language can't be known to werewolves and vise versa. Vampires are incapable of learning the wolven language." Rikaru said. "However, humans can learn both these languages if they want."

"So what happens if a human knows both languages but gets turned into a vampire or a werewolf?" Kluke asked.

"Well here's an example. If a human manages to learn both the vampiric and wolven language but gets turned into a werewolf, then the vampiric language is immediately erased from their brain and they can never learn it again." Rikaru explained. "Unless someone manages to create a cure for lycanthropy and vampirism."

"Well all we can do now is finish translating the Extra Seven." Zola said and Rikaru picked up the amulet. He crushed it in his hand and threw the tiny shards away. Rikaru, Zola, Jiro and Kluke were busy trying to translate the Extra Seven while Shu, Marumaro and Bouquet brought in snacks and tea.

Late at night...

"Please tell me you plan on sleeping some time soon." Rikaru said while he sat on the window sill watching Zola work. "Don't need you to develop insomnia."

"I'll be fine Rikaru." Zola said and Rikaru stared at her.

"It's two in the damn morning Zola." Zola took a sip of her tea.

"Your point?" Rikaru sighed.

"I'm...just worried about you Zola." Zola stopped working and looked at him. Rikaru was surprised that he said it and looked away blushing a little.

"I appreciate your concern for me but I'll be fine." Rikaru doubted that and got up from the window sill and stood next to her.

"I'm serious Zola." Rikaru said and Zola had a surprised look on her face. She had a small blush on her face and sighed.

"Very well then." Zola said and Rikaru smiled. He placed a blanket over her shoulders and Zola went to sleep. He stared at her for a little while and finished translating the Extra Seven.

'What exactly are you to me?' Rikaru thought and he brushed a strand of Zola's silver hair from her face. His eyes softened and and smiled at her.

* * *

There's the new chapter! Read and Review! Oh and please vote if you haven't. The poll will be up for about a week.


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